


On Breeding Vacation

by Destielshipper4Cas



Category: Supernatural
Genre: Alpha Dean, Alpha/Beta/Omega Dynamics, Barebacking, Bottom Castiel, Breeding Kink, Cuddling & Snuggling, Dorks in Love, First Time, Fluff and Smut, Happy Ending, Knotting, M/M, Mating Cycles/In Heat, Mpreg, Mutual Pining, Omega Castiel, Omega Verse, Porn with Feelings, Scenting, Slow Build, Slow Burn, Smut, Strangers to Lovers, Top Dean
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-08
Updated: 2021-02-25
Packaged: 2021-03-09 01:00:49
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 15
Words: 23,345
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27456136
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Destielshipper4Cas/pseuds/Destielshipper4Cas
Summary: Cas wants pups, but without an alpha, that dream seems out of reach. Luckily, fertility ranches have long since specialized in giving omegas who are incapable of being loved the family they so desperately desire.
Relationships: Castiel/Dean Winchester
Comments: 1489
Kudos: 2629
Collections: The Destiel Fan Survey Favs Collection





	1. Chapter 1

Cas’ 40th birthday came out of nowhere and brought with it a wave of self-doubt. Where had his thirties gone? Oh, that was right. He’d been focused on his career.

Dating had always been some foreign concept to him. Talking to strangers regularly gave him a headache, always trying to make sense of some turn of phrase or reference or expression on the alpha’s face… So, he hadn’t really made it a priority to go out looking for a potential mate.

The few times he _had_ tried dating, it had ended in disaster. No alpha wanted him because he was too ‘weird.’ Trying to pass for normal was exhausting, so it was just easier to stay home and watch a documentary or go out with a friend, someone he felt comfortable talking to and who didn’t mind if Cas wasn’t in a chatty mood. You couldn’t have comfortable silences with strangers, and uncomfortable silences were the worst.

All of that was okay. He was happy as a single omega. He could take care of himself. Most mated omegas he knew were unhappily mated anyway. So no, he didn’t need anyone, least of all an alpha.

Except that he did. Not because his life wasn’t fulfilling without an alpha or some dumb reason like that. But unfortunately, you still needed an alpha to make a pup. That’s what the birds and the bees were all about. Or the knots and the slick.

In any case, Cas did want pups. Desperately. He’d always wanted pups. Time had just gotten away from him a bit.

And here he was, at the end of his 40th birthday, after his brother had made some insensitive comment about turning old, with no alpha in sight who could provide his part of the equation to put a pup into Cas’ belly.

Wallowing in self-pity wasn’t something he liked to focus on, though, so instead, it was time to come up with solutions to the problem.

A couple hours of google time later, he knew what he had to do. The services of a fertility ranch cost a lot of money. In addition to paying for the alpha’s… essence, he’d have to pay for the cabin where he and the alpha would spend one of his upcoming heats, and the fertility ranch wanted a lot of money just for offering that option too.

But Cas had some money saved and he didn’t have a family to support (yet). Seemed like focusing on his career these last years hadn’t been such a bad thing after all.

Decision made, he felt much better. He would go sign the paperwork and do whatever else it took and then he would get himself the family he’d always dreamed of. He didn’t need an alpha for that. (Well, he did. But only his sperm.)

⁂

Dean had had no idea that something like a biological clock even _existed_ for alphas. Who had ever heard of that?! That was for omegas and maybe some betas. And even _if_ it was a thing for alphas, he’d never have guessed that _he_ would experience it.

He’d never wanted to be tied down. He’d never even thought about mating, settling down, having pups. That just wasn’t his style.

His alpha apparently didn’t agree. He’d been acting up, growling at other alphas unprovoked, wanting to hump every omega that crossed his path…

Sam didn’t condone Dean’s solution (ignoring it) and somehow, he’d managed to persuade him to go see a doctor about it. That’s how he had learned about biological clocks that were totally a thing for alphas too. Apparently, his alpha was out of control because he’d never been allowed to breed an omega, which was highly unusual at his age.

Okay, so Dean didn’t really like having sex with omegas in heat. So what? He didn’t like how his caretaker instincts made him all wimpy when he was so much as in the presence of an omega smelling of heat.

Still, he might have to trick his alpha into thinking he’d bred an omega by sleeping with one who was in heat and on birth control. That would have been the easy solution at least. (Apart from going back to ignoring the problem, of course.)

Instead, while he was surfing the internet, visiting his favorite porn site, a popup window with an ad for a fertility ranch caught his eye. Maybe tricking his alpha wasn’t the right way to go about it, after all. He skimmed the information given and then clicked on the ad, which took him to the site of the fertility ranch.

He wouldn’t have anything to do with the omega or the pup after he had bred up the omega, would get to go on some sort of sex vacation _and_ he’d even get paid for it, while at the same time, he’d give the omega what he or she wanted. And of course, his alpha would be appeased for having been allowed to breed an omega. Win-win-win.

Yeah, he’d have to sign up, Dean decided, as he entered his email address and other contact details.

Even just knowing that he’d get to have unprotected sex with an omega in heat seemed to placate his alpha to some extent, seeing as the next few days, he was more docile than he’d been in months.

Still, it came as quite a surprise when just a couple of weeks later, he got the message informing him that an omega had chosen him and that he should message back if he was available from the 8th to the 15th of the upcoming month.

Apparently, the omega was scheduled to go into heat sometime between the 9th and the 11th, but they would have a day or two to get to know each other. Theoretically, both had the option of backing out before his heat started, which rarely happened because the alpha got a paid vacation out of it and the omega would have to pay the ranch regardless.

The file of the omega was attached and Dean almost did a double take when his eyes were drawn to the picture of ‘Castiel.’ This omega looked like he could have his pick of alphas to impregnate him.

A quick look at the calendar confirmed that he _was_ available, but even if he hadn’t been, he’d have made time. For some reason, the prospect of having heat sex with an omega was suddenly exciting more than it was daunting. This omega wanted a pup—he wouldn’t judge Dean for maybe being a bit too caring and touchy-feely. Plus, it wasn’t like they’d ever see each other again after that one week.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This came to me last night and I thought I’d see if this is something people are interested in.


	2. Chapter 2

Cas arrived at the cabin where he was supposed to get impregnated around noon. That should give him enough time to get settled in before the alpha he had chosen to breed him would show up.

He almost hadn’t found his way here since the cabin was about an hour’s drive out of town, offering the necessary seclusion needed so they wouldn’t have to worry about being too noisy. Of course, he was also a bit nervous about meeting the potential father of his future pup, so he might not have paid enough attention to where he was going.

Cas got his suitcase out of the trunk and fumbled with the cabin keys for a moment before he got the door open.

Inside, the cabin was quaint and cozy, a lovers’ nest designed to offer omegas in heat comfort. There was a fireplace in front of a love seat with fluffy pillows and soft blankets. The rustic wooden cabinets in the kitchen were filled with everything they might need so that they wouldn’t have to leave the cabin once his heat hit.

As for the bedroom—it looked just as homey as the rest of the place, and the bed in the middle was huge and sturdy. It had to be if an alpha and an omega wanted to spend an omega’s heat in there together. And—were those _handcuffs_ cuffed to the bedpost?

Making sure the alpha didn’t get any ideas when he saw them, Cas went to the bedpost and tried to get rid of them. He just wanted the alpha to get him with pup, not do anything weird in the bedroom. But—damn! He didn’t manage to get those stupid handcuffs open!

He was so absorbed on his task that he didn’t hear someone else arrive until he heard “Kinky!” from behind him.

Cas whirled around and saw the alpha standing in the doorway, a duffle bag in one hand, which he put down next to Cas’ suitcase.

“Oh no!” Cas quickly said when he followed the alpha’s line of sight to the handcuffs that were still dangling stubbornly from the bedpost. “Those aren’t mine!”

Stellar first impression he was making here! In his defense, he hadn’t expected the alpha to arrive until the late afternoon.

The alpha grinned and took a step closer. “I was just teasin’,” he said, hand outstretched to offer a handshake. “Dean Winchester.”

There was no way to guarantee scent compatibility when choosing an alpha based on his file, but as soon as Cas caught a trace of Dean’s scent, he knew that he didn’t need to worry about that. Alphas tended to smell too strong and pungent to him, but Dean? Cas could imagine spending all day in bed doing nothing but scenting him.

He remembered just in time to shake Dean’s hand and offer his name in return.

“No Photoshop,” Cas then blurted out.

Dean’s eyebrows rose. “Sorry?”

“I mean—I thought they had used Photoshop when I saw your picture, to add the—” He motioned towards Dean’s face, sure that the meaning was clear, but Dean kept looking at him nonplussed, so Cas finished the sentence, “Freckles.”

They did look awfully cute. What kind of an alpha had adorable freckles like that?

Dean huffed out a laugh. “I’m pretty sure that if they _had_ used Photoshop, they’d have _erased_ them.”

That didn’t make any sense, so Cas squinted at him, trying to figure out the logic behind Dean’s statement.

“So…” Dean said, looking around the room. “This looks nice.”

“I’m not good at small talk,” Cas told him because he could see where this was going.

Instead of reacting taken aback by that proclamation, Dean smiled at him. “Great! I don’t really enjoy it either. So, how about we skip the small talk and see what we can do about lunch?”

Dean’s sudden appearance had thrown him for a loop, but during lunch (Dean made a mean burger), Cas slowly regained his composure.

Since they had agreed to forego the uncomfortable small talk phase, Cas could ask the real questions.

“How often have you done this?” He waved one hand around, indicating the cabin.

The thought that Dean had lots of pups running around somewhere was a bit strange. They’d be his pup’s half-siblings, after all.

But Dean stopped chewing for a moment to say, “Uhm… this is actually my first time.”

Oh. “So, why now?”

“Seems like I neglected my alpha’s biological needs.”

As Cas listened to Dean explain how he came to sign up as an alpha for the fertility ranch, he was more and more convinced that he was the perfect alpha to father his pup. Money wasn’t a factor here. The pup they were hopefully about to make was _wanted_. By Cas, obviously. But also by the alpha, even though the pup would never get to know him.

“So, what about you?” Dean’s voice brought him out of his thoughts.

“I think my reasons should be rather obvious.” Why else would an omega come here if not because he wanted a pup to raise and love?

“No, yeah. I just meant… How come you’re doing it this way and not the… y’know, traditional way?”

That was a rather personal question, but he was the one who had said he didn’t want to engage in small talk. Plus, Dean had just shared something that was very personal too, so Cas tried his best to put into words how he wasn’t ‘normal,’ but wanted pups anyway.

Dean shrugged his shoulders. “Normal’s overrated anyway.” And that was that.

After lunch and after they had unpacked, it was time to get to know each other on a different level. Yes, Cas had picked up on Dean’s scent and it smelled nice, but…

“Do you mind if I scent you?”

Dean was sitting on his side of the bed because he had just put his cell phone on the nightstand to charge it, and Cas was standing a few feet away, but was now taking a tentative step forward.

Dean made an inviting hand gesture. “Sure. Go ahead.”

Since he wasn’t getting up, Cas joined him, sitting down next to him on the bed.

So far so good. Now, where to scent him?

When he hesitated, Dean took his head and guided it against his neck—definitely a more intimate scenting place than the wrist, which Cas had considered going for.

Oh, yes! Scent compatibility didn’t even begin to describe what was going on here. Even though he had only meant to take a quick whiff of Dean’s scent, Cas found himself breathing his scent in more deeply, nose pressed tight against the alpha’s scent gland.

Dean’s hand was still holding the back of his head, but it started travelling down to the nape of his neck where he began to stroke the little hairs.

When Cas realized that he had to have scented Dean for a few minutes, he pulled back, a bit embarrassed.

Before he could get up, though, Dean said, “My turn!” and leaned in for a scenting of his own.

Cas held himself perfectly still as Dean found his scent gland and then started scenting.

It tickled a bit at first, Dean’s breath ghosting over his neck, but then the tickling turned into a soft tingling sensation that sent goosebumps up and down his spine.

He was almost disappointed when Dean leaned back again.

“Nice scent,” the alpha said, and Cas felt himself blush crimson.

This was ridiculous! They were about to spend his heat together with the intention of making a pup! He shouldn’t get flustered because of a simple compliment about his scent!

“I think so too,” Cas said. “About your scent,” he quickly added when he realized how that sounded. “Your scent is nice too.” He should just stop talking.

Luckily, Dean just smiled at him, amused. “Why, thank you.”

⁂

Cas was utterly adorable. And he smelled as good as he looked, which should be illegal. Dean couldn’t believe he was lucky enough to get to fuck that cute little omega. And not just that, but fuck him through his heat without a rubber. He felt his alpha deep inside him stir at that thought.

Down, boy. Cas wasn’t even in heat yet. This was supposed to be the ‘sniffing each other out’ part. Which they had done quite literally, and Dean couldn’t _wait_ to get his nose back on that scent gland.

This was going to be such a fun week!

“So, anything off the table?” he asked. “You know, apart from the handcuffs you tried to get rid of earlier?”

“Yes. I have a list.” And Cas actually went to his suitcase and started rummaging around in it.

“You have a sex list?” Dean repeated, just to make sure he had understood correctly.

He already liked that quirky omega. He’d keep Dean on his toes, that much was obvious.

“Of course. You don’t?” Cas retorted.

“I’m pretty much open to trying everything once,” Dean shrugged. It had served him well so far. Even things he originally didn’t think he’d like (wearing those pink panties for example) usually turned out hot.

But he’d had sex with prudish omegas before too. Making them lose control was the most fun.

A piece of paper hit him in the head and fell into his lap.

“Tell me if you agree to these terms,” Cas said.

Most of the items on the list were things Dean would have never even though of, like choking or humiliation kink. But—

“Wait, no _scenting_ , are you serious?!”

Cas was the one who had just asked for a scenting, and Dean had been looking forward to the next time ever since he had reluctantly let go of his scent gland.

“We don’t want to end up scent-bonded,” Cas explained. “Having heat sex will make us predisposed. I don’t think scenting while I’m in heat is a good idea.”

“Then we better do some serious scenting while you’re not in heat yet. You know, so that it’ll be easier to hold off later.”

Okay, the logic wasn’t really sound, but he had to have been convincing enough because Cas tilted his head, contemplating that for a few seconds, and then he nodded and rejoined Dean on the bed.


	3. Chapter 3

As per their no small talk rule, they were getting to know each other on a deeper level than it would normally be possible for two strangers who had just met. Dean quickly learned that he had a nerdy little omega on his hands here. But that was okay since he got to tease Cas mercilessly. Pull his pigtails, as it were.

It wasn’t like he _had_ to flirt with him—they both knew they’d end up in bed together anyway—but playfully teasing Cas was just so much fun, especially since the omega didn’t even seem to notice that he was being flirted with here.

Dean made bets with himself on how obvious he could get before Cas caught on. So far, “I like your reading glasses. They make you look sexy.” had gotten him nothing but a head tilt and a “Thank you.”

“You _always_ smell so delicious or is that your approaching heat?” had been his most obvious one yet, and finally he had gotten a reaction.

A rosy tint spread across Cas’ cheeks, and the omega started babbling, “Well, I… I don’t know. I assume it might be my heat. It’s imminent.”

Score. Dean bit his lip in a flirtatious manner that had gotten him lucky plenty of times in the past, and said, “Suits you.”

Would you look at that, Cas’ face could get even redder. Seducing this omega was going to be so much fun!

Again—not that he had to seduce him per se, but he might just do it anyway, just for the heck of it.

“So… uhm… Do you think…” Cas cleared his throat, still adorably flustered. “Is it too soon to ask if you want to go through with this?”

Dean hadn’t planned on backing out anyway, but now that he had met Cas? No way was he going to pass up the chance to have heat sex with him!

“I’m game if you’re game,” he said, trying not to sound too eager.

“Well, I’m… game,” Cas repeated the expression carefully as if he hadn’t heard it before.

Dean smiled at him and leaned in to scent him some more. After all, Cas wasn’t in heat yet. They were still allowed to do that.

Cas immediately scented back as if they had done this a million times.

Something else Dean had learned about Cas: He was very cuddly. As soon as Dean had initiated the new round of scenting, Cas huddled closer and nestled up against him.

And so it started. Cuddling with an omega who was close to his heat, Dean’s nurturing instincts were being kicked into overdrive. So, it just made sense that he would want to snuggle and scent the crap out of this omega. Never mind the fact that Cas wasn’t in heat yet. Dean was sure there were some pre-heat hormones that were responsible for making him feel that way.

Plus, it wasn’t often that he had an omega in his bed who he was this compatible with. He was really glad that it was Cas who’d be carrying his pup.

That thought awakened the alpha inside him who simply couldn’t wait for Cas to go into heat so that he’d get to breed him. He couldn’t wait until he had Cas hanging off his knot, belly heavy with his seed.

For now, as a compromise, Dean slowly leaned in, giving Cas plenty of time to stop him if he wanted to, and captured the omega’s lips in a kiss. Just a short and soft one as a promise for more to come.

Cas had closed his eyes and was chasing after Dean’s lips a bit when Dean leaned back. They were compatible all right. Cas obviously felt it too.

⁂

On some level, Cas had feared that the alpha might change his mind when he met Cas. He tended to say the wrong thing at the wrong time, and there had to be mutual attraction if they wanted to make a pup.

So, when Dean said that he was ‘game’ (which, he assumed, meant he was willing to go through with it), Cas could have jumped up and danced across the room.

It wasn’t just that otherwise, he’d have to set it all up, wait for another heat and pay for it again, but he really wanted it to be _Dean_ now that he knew he could have him.

His omega had never reacted that strongly to an alpha before, and it was kind of exhilarating.

When they were scenting and Dean put his arm around him, he felt safe and cared for and he never wanted to leave the scent-embrace.

Even though they had only just met, there was some kind of implicit trust between them. Maybe because for once in his life, he didn’t have to pretend. He was just Castiel here, no expectations, no need to pretend that he didn’t have any baggage.

As it turned out, Dean had some baggage of his own, as he found out when the conversation turned to family.

Dean had mentioned that his brother had been the one who was responsible for him being here.

“Wow. If my family were still talking to me, they’d disown me if they knew I was doing this.—They’re very traditional.”

“Yeah, well, I don’t have to worry about what my folks would say. Most of them are dead.”

The tone of voice was casual, but Cas could feel the truth underneath and offered comfort as best he knew how—with a nudge and a nuzzle, which led to Dean putting an arm around him.

And later, when they were about to go to sleep, he got another puzzle piece.

“Don’t you ever want pups?” he asked because he did wonder about it.

Dean rolled over to look at him in the semi-darkness of the room. “If all goes well, I’m pretty sure I’m about to have one. You know—that’s kind of why we’re here.”

“No, I mean to raise yourself,” Cas explained. “Maybe together with a wife or a husband?”

“Oh.” Dean was quiet for a while and Cas already thought that he had overstepped.

“No,” Dean finally said. “My father wasn’t exactly a role model. I’d just mess ’em up.”

Cas hadn’t even thought about that. He hadn’t had good role models either. “But isn’t that what it’s all about? To do better than your own parents? Give your pups a better life?”

Again, there was silence for a short while. Then, “Yeah. Maybe.”

⁂

What was it with this omega?! Dean had never told anyone such an honest answer to that question in his life (himself included). Normally, he would say thing like he was bad with kids or he liked his independent lifestyle. Of course, the fact that he had never met an omega he could see himself settling down with played a role, but it wasn’t the only reason he had never let himself think about pups.

So why was he suddenly getting real here with Cas?

Maybe it was because of the darkness. Late at night and cuddled up in bed with the best-smelling omega he had ever met… Yeah, that sounded like a recipe for a truth serum.

“Night, Cas,” he mumbled before Cas got him to blurt out more painful truths.

“Goodnight, Dean,” came Cas’ reply.

Neither of them noticed when their noses found each other’s scent glands on instinct while they were already half asleep.

⁂

The next day was kind of spent in limbo. Cas’ heat was only due the day after, but you could never know. It could be a day early or a day late.

They used the time to prepare the nest, get the fire in the fireplace going so they could spend some time in the love seat talking (and scenting according to their plan to get as much scenting time in before Cas’ heat as possible), and generally preparing themselves as best they could for when Cas’ heat would start.

Once there was nothing left to prepare, they played some board games they had found in one of the cabinets, and Cas got all excited when he found a game of Twister. Of course, Dean gave in—there was no way he could say no to Cas’ big, hopeful eyes—and it actually turned out to be a lot of fun.

All in all, they were pretty much playing house here. They cooked and ate together, and Dean did his best to make a good impression of a worthy alpha.

As always when you had fun, the day passed quickly, and suddenly, it was evening, even though Dean could have sworn they had only just had breakfast.

Cas still wasn’t in heat. Dean had really been looking forward to getting frisky with this omega today. Being around Cas all day had made him horny and he had hoped to be able to relieve the pent-up sexual energy tonight.

A dry run with Cas still out of heat might be a good idea. Maybe he could pass it off as just another form of preparation for Cas’ heat.

The first step was easy. Since they’d been doing a lot of scenting, Dean simply scooted over to Cas when they were in bed together.

Cas was wearing those sexy reading glasses and had his nose buried in a book, but Dean had picked up on a trick or two and knew how to distract the geeky omega.

There was a spot right next to his scent gland that—if Dean ‘accidentally’ blew on it—made Cas lose focus, unable to keep his train of thought.

Dean was proud to note that it took him less than a minute for Cas to put his book down on the nightstand and take his reading glasses off so that he could reciprocate the scenting.

Next step: Making Cas want more.

He sought out that place on his neck again and gave it a quick nibble, almost as if by accident.

Yes! Cas tilted his head ever so slightly. Dean’s hand casually traveled down to Cas’ hip where he rested it while he gently licked a stripe from Cas’ cent gland to his mating gland.

Bingo. The omega shuddered and sighed softly, pressing himself tighter against Dean.

Time to implement phase 3. He slipped his thumb underneath Cas’ pajama shirt so that he could rub circles into his skin, feather-light touches to his hip that had Cas undulating against him. At the same time, his mouth traveled from Cas’ mating gland to his jaw and then lips so that he could press soft, open-mouthed kisses against them.

Cas gasped and Dean used the opportunity to slip his tongue inside his mouth. Oh yes! This omega was about to succumb to his charms. Operation ‘seduce Cas’ was a success!

He could smell the omega’s arousal mixed with something else. Something like—

“Oh!” Cas gasped and looked at him wide-eyed.

Dean grinned at him. Looked like they would be having heat sex tonight after all.


	4. Chapter 4

It shouldn’t surprise him that Dean had sent him into heat with his constant touching, and scenting, and now even _kissing_. Why did he have to be so gentle and caring?!

The alpha had even helped with all the preparations for his heat. What kind of an alpha was helping an omega build a _nest_? Alphas didn’t even _have_ nesting instincts!

In any case, it had been very sweet of him to humor Cas and his ridiculous needs.

So, when the alpha had started touching him with more intent, it was really no wonder that Cas’ omega had been done for.

“I’m in heat,” he informed Dean. It wasn’t bad yet, but he could definitely feel the beginnings of his heat that made him yearn for Dean’s touch (even more so than before).

“Yeah, I kinda figured that one out.” Dean smiled teasingly and let his hand drift from Cas’ hip to his stomach, stroking it softly. “Let’s see about putting a pup in that belly.”

That was just the right thing to say as Cas felt his stomach tense with arousal, his ass slicking in anticipation.

“Yes, please,” he breathed out, barely above a whisper.

Dean kept fondling his belly, which, if Cas hadn’t already been in heat, would have certainly done the trick. It felt _so good_ —but this wasn’t about feeling good.

“I read up on the best positions for impregnation,” he told Dean. He should probably have mentioned that earlier, but he had thought they could discuss it in the morning. “Obviously, the most effective one has the omega present and the alpha insert his penis from behind, so I think we should try that.”

“Wow. You really have to work on your dirty talk,” Dean deadpanned.

Cas didn’t understand that reference, so he just looked at Dean for clues. When the alpha didn’t elaborate, he just went on to explain, “It allows for deeper penetration. Oh, and we should also make sure to provide a favorable angle for your sperm. But if I present right, I could push my ass up and you could fuck into it from above…” He showed a steep angle with his hand to illustrate his plan.

Dean stopped rubbing his belly, and Cas immediately missed the attention. “Did you draw a diagram?” the alpha asked.

“No, I didn’t.” He had assumed an alpha would know how to mount an omega who was presenting for him. But if Dean needed some visual aids… “But I can make a quick sketch.”

He looked around for pen and paper, but Dean just chuckled and then distracted him by kissing him again.

“Stop thinking so much,” the alpha said when he pulled back. “People have been making pups since the dawn of time. I think we’ll be okay.” And he proceeded to kiss him some more.

His soft lips felt so addictive against his own that Cas almost forgot all about impregnation techniques. Almost. “Dean—do you concur with my plan?”

“Sure, I can take you from behind. I can take you any way you want, babe.” Dean’s voice had gotten all low and Cas felt his heat flare. It was time.

⁂

Dean breathed in deeply, the closest he got to scenting Cas now that he was in heat. It didn’t keep him from leaning in ever so slightly while helping the omega out of his clothes. There was no rule against _breathing_ , so if Dean caught some of Cas’ awesome heat scent that way, he was technically not breaking any rules.

Oral sex had been on Cas’ list of no goes because Dean’s sperm was supposed to be deposited in his ass alone. But that didn’t mean that _Dean_ didn’t get to have a little fun.

When Cas was on his stomach, hips and ass raised in the proper presenting position according to his plan, Dean pulled the omega’s ass cheeks apart to get a good look at that cute little hole he was about to fuck.

He liked playing with an omega’s hole, teasing the omega mercilessly until he was truly desperate for Dean’s cock. Since Cas was in heat, his ass was already leaking some slick, which Dean lapped right up, ignoring Cas’ squeaky “Dean!”

His ‘plan’ had probably been for Dean to mount him immediately, just a clinical fuck to get Dean’s seed inside of him. Well, this omega was in for a big surprise!

While circling Cas’ hole with his tongue and teasing it into producing even more slick, his hand found the omega’s hard dick and fondled it lightly, not enough pressure to give Cas something to fuck into, but enough to make him want more.

Right on cue, Cas pushed his ass up even higher, a clear invitation for Dean to mount him. He had never seen an omega present so perfectly for him.

Dean finally licked a stripe across his hole, then again just to feel Cas shudder beneath him before he slipped his tongue inside a little, darting in and out, teasing the poor omega to the brink of orgasm.

That at least got him another “Dean!” mumbled into the pillows.

Well, if Dean wasn’t allowed to scent, he’d at least get a taste! Cas’ dick in his hand grew even harder, but Dean was pretty much just holding it at this point, not offering any friction.

After giving the hole one last gentle kiss, he began fingering the rim, sliding a finger around his entrance, spreading the slick around. When he inserted a finger, Cas let out a soft whimper, and Dean decided to take pity. He took the omega’s dick in hand and began stroking it while repeatedly penetrating Cas with his finger.

Fucking an omega who had just come was a lot of fun because they were very sensitive after an orgasm and Dean liked using that moment to bury himself balls-deep inside them and ride them hard. So, when Cas came with a gasp, hole clenching around Dean’s finger, he didn’t lose any time, but positioned his cock at the entrance to Cas’ body and thrust inside.

The heat scent around him and the fact that there was no condom between him and Cas suddenly reminded him of why they were here.

He was about to fuck a pup into Cas.

His alpha rejoiced at the prospect of finally getting to breed an omega. And not just any omega, but the most awesome one too.

Cas seemed to have a hard time keeping his perfect presenting position, having just had a powerful orgasm and all. Dean would fuck any thoughts of ‘ideal’ sex positions out of him yet.

His eyes landed on Cas’ exposed neck, which made him want to do all kinds of things he wasn’t supposed to. After all, scent and mating gland play had been on the list of forbidden sex things.

Instead, Dean set up a rough rhythm in an attempt to distract his alpha from the urge to mark that omega who would soon be bearing his pup.

⁂

Cas had never let an alpha mount him without a condom before. The thought of Dean putting his naked dick inside of him was extremely erotic, though.

But instead of putting his dick inside of him like any sane alpha would when confronted with an omega in heat who presented for him, Dean _licked_ him and then fingered him and generally drove him insane.

When Cas came, he thought he might collapse onto the bed, but of course, _that’s_ when Dean decided to finally mount him, so he had to try and keep his position.

Dean’s wet cockhead teased his hole and finally slipped inside. Of course, Cas couldn’t have suppressed the instinct to bare his neck if he had tried. Dean didn’t take him up on the offer to nose along his neck, though, and instead did what they were here to do. He bred him.

It didn’t take long until Dean filled him up thoroughly, pumping his hot seed deep into his womb. At that point, the alpha was basically the one holding Cas in presenting position because he really couldn’t keep his ass up by himself.

Only when he had knotted Cas did he allow him to sink down into their nest, his heat taken care of for the moment.

Dean was stroking Cas’ stomach again, a reminder of what they might just have created if they were really lucky. He shouldn’t get his hopes up, though. It took some mates up to five heats to conceive.

Worn out, both emotionally and physically, Cas let himself be held and imagined, just for a second, that he might be carrying Dean’s pup.

He buried his face in Dean’s neck and inhaled—not really scenting him, just inhaling Dean’s scent via his scent gland. Yeah, who was he kidding, he was totally scenting him. But just for a second. Just because his omega really needed it right then.

This was the alpha of his future pup. That's why he was being so emotional and needy. That’s all it was.

His heat had only just started. If things continued on this path, he’d be emotionally _wrecked_ by the end of it…


	5. Chapter 5

What the hell was Cas doing? His nose was totally seeking out Dean’s scent gland! Were they allowed to do that?

As if Cas could read his mind, he mumbled into Dean’s neck, “Just for a minute.”

Okay. Dean could work with ‘a minute.’

Feeling his stomach do a strange little flip, he reciprocated the scenting, enjoying the closeness and at the same time dreading the moment the minute would be up.

Cas’ heat scent was driving his alpha insane, nurturing instincts getting the better of him. Of course, his dick was still locked inside of Cas, so there was really nothing he could do but make sure he gave the omega a good cuddle inside their nest.

He hoped that he was doing the right things that would make Cas feel well taken care of. After all, he didn’t have much experience with omegas in heat.

Once his knot had gone down, he found out how much fun it was to give Cas a bath. His hands were gliding all over the wet, naked omega, and he ended up joining him just so that he could pull him against his chest and kiss his way up and down his neck.

Once they were done, he carried him back to their nest bridal-style (ignoring Cas’ surprised squeak), where he hand fed him some grapes.

Since he really wanted to be the one to father Cas’ pup, they were back at it soon, Dean once again taking Cas from behind according to the omega’s plan.

Towards the end of the third round, Cas finally came out of his shell a bit. He’d been unnaturally quiet so far, but Dean was starting to figure out which moves drove him wild, and in response, Cas couldn’t keep the sounds in much longer.

It started with a guttural moan that broke off when the omega probably realized that he was making what he considered too much noise.

Dean immediately rammed his cock into Cas’ hole again, which got him a gasp and then a needy whine.

“Yeah?” Dean asked. “Want me to breed you up good?”

The thought of pumping his seed into this fertile little omega and knocking him up made him speed up his thrusts.

In response, Cas pushed his ass up higher, making Dean falter in his rhythm because the slick channel was gripping his cock so tight.

When Dean held still for a moment in order to get a grip on his alpha, Cas fucked back himself, pushing his ass against him repeatedly, sliding up and down Dean’s cock.

His moans got louder and louder, which was the sexiest thing, and Dean gripped his hips hard and buried himself to the hilt just in time to coat the omega’s insides with his spunk once more.

He felt Cas follow him over the edge and took that as permission to knot him again.

They fucked a lot more over the next couple of days. There hardly seemed to be a refractory period since Cas’ heat scent was the best aphrodisiac.

But as much as Dean loved seeing Cas present for him, he started to regret that he was only supposed to fuck him from behind. At least, they were engaging in more ‘just a minute’ scentings in between, which gave Dean’s alpha some of the intimacy he craved.

The reason for those uncharacteristic cravings was obvious: He was in the presence of an omega in heat. His alpha had never been allowed to breed an omega before—that was the whole reason he was here. So naturally, he would have all these instincts bubbling up. Naturally, Cas’ scent would make his stomach do somersaults.

Dean ignored all of that in favor of fucking Cas some more. The more the omega awakened these strange feelings inside of him, the harder he fucked his hole to chase them away. All he had to do is fuck them out of his system.

Just an omega in heat. Of _course,_ his alpha was smitten. After all, Cas’ belly was filled with Dean’s seed, his ass basically overflowing with it. They wanted to make a pup here.

Another punishing thrust had Cas wince underneath him, and Dean realized that he had lost count of how many times he had taken the omega this way.

Dean stopped fucking into him and even let his dick slip out of Cas’ hole, ignoring the omega’s wail of protest.

“Hang on,” he said, using a hand to steady the omega’s hip to keep him from trying to fuck back against him. “Let me see that hole of yours.”

The blush that spread across Cas’ neck at those words was absolutely adorable. Dean had filled him up with his spunk over and over again, had fucked multiple orgasms out of the omega—and here he was still blushing at Dean’s word choice.

He pulled Cas’ cheeks apart and as expected, the gaping hole was quite red.

“Look, as well thought out as your plan is, I think we should switch it up a bit. Maybe some 69 for a change.”

Cas looked over his shoulder, a frown on his face.

“Not to brag, but I’m quite large,” Dean explained. “And I’ve been using your ass _a lot_.” _I don’t want to hurt you_ , was left unsaid.

“I need your sperm inside me,” Cas replied drily.

“I know. I can come on your ass and push it in or something.”

“That’s not as effective, though,” Cas said.

“I’ve come inside you like a million times now. I don’t think this one time will make much of a difference.”

Cas still didn’t seem convinced, so Dean continued, “Tell you what. If I don’t get you pregnant this heat, we’ll just meet up for your next heat and try again.”

The frown on Cas’ face became even more pronounced. “I don’t think we’re allowed to do that. I’d have to book you through the fertility ranch again.”

Dean raised his eyebrows. “How are they ever gonna know?”

That’s how Dean got that pretty mouth on his cock after all. Sucking down Cas’ dick at the same time had the added bonus that he got another taste of the omega.

He greedily swallowed down his come and then had to pull out so that he could spray Cas’ ass with his own come before he aimed right for his hole.

After, he tried to be very careful and gentle when he pushed it into Cas with his index finger.

There came a time when they just blew each other and Dean came down Cas’ throat. No one mentioned the fact that they had just wasted some of Dean’s sperm.

And then, on the last day of Cas’ heat, they didn’t have sex at all.

Instead, Dean just took care of Cas, which was typical for _mates_ to do. Especially on the last day of an omega’s heat, the omega didn’t necessarily need an alpha to fuck him. He just needed a lot of affection, and since Cas’ hole still hadn’t recovered from being so thoroughly abused, Dean decided that a little bit of cuddly affection was just what Cas needed.

By that time, the omega was too out of it to realize that they weren’t keeping to his plan, so Dean could spoil him without Cas complaining about how they were supposed to get even more sperm into his ass.

Dean used the time to massage the omega and generally touch him a lot. There was a lot of kissing and rubbing noses, which led to ‘just a minute’ scentings that turned into ‘just five minutes,’ and… well, Cas was out of heat anyway, so no one cared when they were still scenting each other an hour later.

Cas was a very tactile omega who was soaking up all the touches, so that was clearly why Dean was offering them in the first place.

His hands kept seeking out Cas’ stomach, giving the omega a belly rub while imagining that his pup was in there, no more than a day old.

⁂

Cas had never had this much sex in his _life_! He could probably count all the times he had ever had sex, and Dean would still come out ahead.

No alpha had ever fucked him so thoroughly before.

After a while, his ass started to hurt from taking Dean’s huge dick again and again, which was when the alpha came up with alternate ideas for how to get his sperm to where it was supposed to go.

At the beginning of all of this, Cas had only thought about how he desperately wanted to get pregnant. He hadn’t even considered how much _fun_ being bred could be.

He almost wished that Dean hadn’t managed to get him with pup, so that he would have to spend his next heat with Dean too.

When he was out of heat, he still felt emotionally needy, so he scented Dean some more because his scent had such a calming effect on his omega.

Since they were still naked in bed, Cas half on top of Dean, the scenting led to Cas undulating against the alpha, which led to him rubbing his dick against Dean’s, and somehow, they both came together one last time, even though it would do no good since Cas wasn’t even in heat anymore.

He couldn’t believe that his heat was already over! Whenever he was alone, it sure seemed to take a long time.

The worst part? He might never get to see Dean again. For some reason, that thought made his eyes burn.

Damn, but he was always so emotional when coming down from his heat!

Who knew, maybe he wasn’t pregnant and he would get to see Dean again for their second attempt. And if he _was_ with pup, at least he would always have a piece of Dean.


	6. Chapter 6

The week together with Cas had been awesome! For once, he didn’t have to uphold the image of the tough alpha. Cas hadn’t made fun of him when he had given in to his instincts and taken care of the omega with all the cuddles and affection his alpha had to give. And of course there had been the mind-blowing sex.

Even though Cas was out of heat now, Dean couldn’t hold back from touching him and kissing him, so that was basically what they were doing the last day as a way to transition back to real life.

Fucking the omega into giving up his carefully laid-out plan concerning sex positions had been a lot of fun. But somewhere along the way, Dean’s own plan for how this was supposed to work had been shot to hell. He was supposed to breed up an omega, satisfy his alpha in the process and then be on his way, no looking back.

Never had he considered the fact that it could be difficult to say goodbye to the omega he might have knocked up. He really hoped Cas wasn’t pregnant, so that he got to fuck him again because his alpha simply wasn’t ready to let go of this omega forever.

At least they exchanged numbers so that Cas could text him to let him know if he needed Dean’s help again during his next heat.

Then it was time to say goodbye. Once their bags were in the trunks of their cars, Dean fondled Cas’ belly once more and the omega wrapped his arms around him in response, so Dean didn’t really have any other choice but to kiss the top of his head.

The hug went on for a little too long, but Dean was absolutely okay with that since it gave him the opportunity to scent Cas one last time.

“Don’t forget to text me,” Dean reminded him. “Even if it worked. I’d like to know if I have a pup out there somewhere.”

“Yes, of course.” Cas took a step back and looked at him as if he wanted to say something else. But instead, he just said, “Goodbye, Dean.” Those were the last words Cas spoke to him before he got into his car and drove off.

Dean looked after him for a while before he shook his head and got into his own car. The vacation was over. It was time to drive back to reality.

⁂

The next few days were surreal. Dean knew that it would take a while for Cas to know one way or another, but he still looked at his cell phone all the time, waiting for the text message to arrive.

He even typed multiple messages himself, but he always erased them before he sent any of them, and put the phone away again. Cas had chosen a fertility ranch for a reason. He wanted a pup _without_ the alpha. Dean should respect that instead of stalking the poor omega who had just wanted his seed.

It didn’t matter how much Dean missed Cas’ scent. Or his quirky humor. No matter how much he longed for someone to spoon and wake up next to.

Another day without a text message from Cas went by. Dean’s alpha was getting restless again, only this time for a different reason.

When the long-awaited message finally came, Dean almost didn’t dare look at it.

It was a picture of a pregnancy test. Positive.

Dean texted back his congratulations. He was truly happy for Cas. And also kind of for himself because _wow_ , Cas was seriously carrying his pup. How awesome was that?!

But at the same time, that also meant Cas wouldn’t need him anymore. His job had been done. No more heat spent with the omega was necessary.

He saw the three dots that told him Cas was texting back, only it took a very long time. The dots stopped, then they started again. A few minutes of back and forth like that and Cas’ message finally came through.

It only read, “I am so excited!”

So. Cas and his pup were safe and sound somewhere and they didn’t need Dean. Didn’t need him at all.

That was fine. That was exactly what Dean had agreed to when he had signed up for the fertility ranch.

He had signed away all of his rights as the pup’s alpha. This was how these things worked. He was not supposed to be a part of their lives.

And he was perfectly fine with that.

He flung his cell phone against the wall and took delight in watching it break into several pieces.

A minute later, he cursed his impulsiveness as he was trying to reassemble it.

⁂

Dean: That is awesome, Cas! Congrats!

Cas was looking at Dean’s text message for a while before he texted back—or tried to.

Obviously, Dean was very happy about the outcome—which might mean that he hadn’t looked forward to a repeat performance the same way Cas had.

Of course, he was very happy, too. He had almost thrown up from nerves while waiting for the result, and he couldn’t be happier. After all, this was what he had been hoping and wishing for.

Still, another heat or two with Dean would have been nice, too.

“Thank you,” he texted back, but that didn’t seem like enough, so he erased those words again. Instead, he asked if Dean was interested in progress reports as the pregnancy advanced. He quickly deleted that text as well. The alphas who signed up for the fertility ranch weren’t interested in the pup they helped create.

Dean had told him himself that he didn’t want a pup of his own to raise. The whole reason he had been at the ranch was that he had wanted to impregnate an omega without having to stick around for the aftermath.

In the end, Cas just texted back that he was very excited, which was part of the truth.

He kept staring at his phone, but Dean wasn’t texting anything back.

Cas’ omega was very sad about that. It might just be the pregnancy hormones, but he had to hear Dean’s voice!

Not letting himself think about it too much, he just hit dial.

Only Dean had apparently turned his cell phone off. Or—more likely—he was ignoring Cas’ call.

Message received.

It shouldn’t hurt because that had been the deal all along. But somehow, it did.

He was pregnant, so he was absolutely allowed to curl up on the couch with a tub of ice cream and scent Dean’s shirt that had ‘accidentally’ ended up in his suitcase.

It was losing Dean’s scent little by little, which was making him sad, too, but for tonight, he still had it.

And if a few tears escaped while he was scenting Dean’s shirt—well, then he could blame that on the pregnancy hormones as well.

⁂

Getting a new cell phone and keeping the old number was a pain. Especially since the old phone had been perfectly fine. Apart from the fact that the wall had not been its friend.

But Cas had this number, and Dean wanted to make sure that the omega could reach him just in case.

He kept wondering what Cas was up to. Had he already been to the doctor? Did he have a sonogram picture? Did he know the sex of the baby?

Dean had no idea about pregnancy stuff, but some time with his laptop later and he had found out that it was too early for any of that.

Would it come across as too creepy of him to check up on Cas? Probably.

Instead of getting easier with each passing day, it actually got harder and harder for him as time went on. Cas was carrying _his_ pup. He should be kept in the loop here! His omega was pregnant with his pup and Dean was sitting here on his ass and could do absolutely nothing. He was completely useless.

Every instinct in him was telling him to make a nest for Cas, give him foot rubs and make him dinner, kiss that cute omega all over… Yet, he could do none of those things!

It was starting to get really frustrating!

He was wallowing in self-pity one evening, so he went to bed early and rearranged the blankets and pillows a bit to fool his alpha into thinking he was preparing a nest for Cas when his cell phone rang.

He almost let it drop when he saw Cas’ name flash across the screen.

As soon as he hit the answer button, Cas started rambling, _“Dean! I’m so glad you picked up!”_

Why wouldn’t he pick up? He had almost hurt his finger in his haste to push the button when he had seen it was Cas who was calling.

_“I’m really scared. There’s some scent complication. And I can’t lose it. I can’t lose my pup!”_

Dean’s blood ran cold. He tried to keep his voice calm as he interrupted the frantic babbling, “Cas, slow down. What’s going on?”

_“I wouldn’t even have bothered you, but my doctor said it could be helpful if I had something of the alpha’s to scent. So, I wanted to ask if you could maybe send me a shirt or something? I know I wasn’t supposed to get in touch with you again, but apparently, some omegas need the alpha’s scent to calm them down and I’m really trying to stay calm by myself, but the fetus needs your scent…”_

“Hey, Cas. Breathe.” He heard a deep, shaky breath on the other end of the line. “Of course, I can send you something. Whatever you need. Just give me your address.”

A text message with the address came through almost immediately, and Dean did a double take.

“You live in Kensington? That’s, like, half an hour from here.” This was his chance. He was itching with the need to calm Cas down and reassure him by offering physical comfort. “You know, it would probably be quicker if I just came by for a quick scenting.”

He hoped the suggestion had sounded casual and not like Dean needed Cas to say yes with every fiber of his being.

 _“If… if you don’t mind,”_ Cas said.

His voice was still trembling slightly. He had to be really freaked out.

“Nah, I was kinda bored anyway,” Dean said.

Yeah, there was no way he could keep himself from driving over there and making sure his little family was all right.


	7. Chapter 7

Dean actually made it to Cas’ place in _under_ thirty minutes, which was to be expected since he had been very motivated to make it there as fast as possible.

He had barely touched the doorbell when he had an armful of omega frantically scenting away at him. Taken off guard, it took him a few seconds to bring his arms up around Cas’ back and hold him close, murmuring reassurances into his ear.

They stood like that for a while, right there in the doorway, until Dean decided to take matters into his own hands and slowly walk Cas backwards into the house, closing the door behind them.

“Sorry. Sorry,” Cas mumbled into his neck, but he didn’t stop scenting for even a second.

Not that Dean minded. In fact, if Cas was scenting him so thoroughly, he figured he was allowed a quick whiff himself, so he sought out the omega’s scent gland in return and breathed in the awesome scent.

Oh God, he had forgotten how _amazing_ Cas smelled! Last time, the omega had been close to heat and in heat, so he had thought that was part of the reason his smell had made Dean’s head spin.

Only now, he was picking up something new and intriguing in Cas’ scent, something that made him scent for it more aggressively until he was satisfied he had gotten to the bottom of things.

Yep, that was one knocked up omega.

Being able to scent it this early in the pregnancy was rather uncommon, but with Dean’s nose pushed right up against Cas’ scent gland, he had a clear advantage here. Plus, it was _his_ pup in there, which might play a role, too.

Remembering how much Cas had liked a tender lick to his scent gland, Dean got bold and let the tip of his tongue dart out for a quick taste.

Yes! There Cas went, baring his neck so prettily. Obviously, his instincts in the presence of the alpha who had fathered his pup were working just fine.

As a reward, Dean licked his scent gland again, this time with a broader stroke to get a better taste. Pregnant Cas tasted even better than regular Cas, which seemed impossible, but here they were.

“Wanna sit down?” Dean asked since they were still standing just inside the door.

“Yes, of course. Sorry,” Cas apologized again, pulling slightly away from him and interrupting his scenting for the first time.

Somehow, his hand had ended up in Dean’s and the omega was now tugging on it to lead him into the living room.

Once there, a blush spread across Cas’ cheeks as he looked at their intertwined hands before letting go.

“The doctor said contact can help, too,” he explained, as he motioned for Dean to sit down on the couch.

“Hey, not complainin’. I’m here to help in any way I can.” He flashed Cas a smile simply because he was truly happy for the first time since he had said goodbye to the omega at the cabin.

Cas sat down next to him, still a bit embarrassed in that adorably awkward way of his that only made Dean smile wider.

“I… thank you. You didn’t have to come. Your job was supposed to be done the moment you… well…” He motioned to his belly.

“Cas—I don’t mind. Now, weren’t you supposed to scent me or something?”

And just like that they went back to scenting each other tenderly. Since contact apparently helped, Dean made sure to touch Cas, one hand on the small of his back, gently stroking the omega, the other tangled in his hair solely for an easier scenting position.

He could absolutely get lost in these sensations that scenting the pregnant omega elicited in him. This was his first pup, so he didn’t have any experience with these types of emotions, but he supposed this kind of reaction was natural for an alpha when in the presence of his knocked-up mate. Not that Cas was his mate, of course, but he _was_ pregnant with his pup, so it was really no wonder that he could sit here and scent this omega all night long.

But he really wanted to know more about what was going on, too, so after a while of letting his alpha comfort Cas with soothing caresses, he asked, “Want to tell me about those scent complications?”

Cas squirmed around a bit, obviously uncomfortable with that question, but he answered nevertheless, “Well, I suppose we shouldn’t have scented so much that last day when I was already with pup. Apparently, the fetus can imprint on its alpha’s scent if its parents engage in too much scenting.”

Huh. Dean kind of liked the idea that his pup wanted him around. He also kind of liked the idea of having _Cas_ around. Okay, strike the ‘kind of.’ He liked the idea _a lot_.

“Don’t worry, though,” the omega quickly continued. “We can wean the pup off. My doctor says, at the beginning, it should be at least half an hour a day. But it’s perfectly fine if you just give me a shirt to scent…”

“No way, man,” Dean interrupted him. “We’re not taking any risks here. Half an hour a day? I’m totally there. If it’s ‘at least’ half an hour, we should probably better make it an hour.”

Cas looked at him all serious and—oh no! Were his eyes starting to water? Making Cas sad had so not been his intention. On top of that, he didn’t really know how to deal with crying omegas. Or, well, crying people in general, really. Luckily, no tears actually came out.

“Dean… You have no idea how grateful I am. I mean, you didn’t sign up for any of this, but…” He trailed off and tried again after a moment, “Alphas probably can’t understand, but this pup is already a part of me and when I thought it was in danger, I… went a little crazy…”

“No, hey, I understand.” He was already quite infatuated with his pup and had some pretty strong protective instincts going on himself.

So he let his hand drift to Cas’ stomach, stroking it softly as he guided the omega’s head back against his neck to give his pup as much of his scent as it needed. And if he got to press Cas against him at the same time, then that was definitely a plus.

⁂

Cas could feel his omega settle down more and more the longer he was in Dean’s presence. The alpha’s scent was doing its trick, and for the first time in days, he felt grounded and as if things were going to be all right.

Dean had offered to stay for an hour, which gave Cas plenty of time to soak up his scent. Of course, his pup was his top priority. That was the whole reason they were here together in the first place.

But he had to admit that he enjoyed having Dean here for himself, too. Yes, his pup might have imprinted on Dean’s scent, but Cas was quite partial to it, too, so he pressed himself against Dean until the alpha had no other choice but to wrap his arms around him.

He could absolutely get used to having the alpha here and scenting him for an hour, especially if Dean kept stroking his stomach so lovingly. It almost made Cas feel like he wanted this pup, too. Which he did, of course, but unfortunately not for the reasons Cas would hope.

The hour came and went and Cas didn’t want to tell him that the time was up, so he just conveniently forgot to mention it, hoping that Dean wouldn’t realize how much time had passed.

Having Dean here with him made him fantasize about all kinds of things. Maybe he could ask him to come to the check up with him. Or he could ask Dean to stay the night, which would make his bed smell like Dean, which in return would be good for the pup. He did neither of those things, though, because he really didn’t want to take advantage of the nice alpha. Dean was already doing so much just by being here.

Two hours had passed by the time Dean gave his scent gland one last lick before untangling himself from Cas with a sigh.

“Guess it’s time for me to go home,” the alpha said while Cas’ hand involuntarily went up to his scent gland to where Dean had just licked it. Dean didn’t sound too thrilled, so Cas thought about inviting him to stay over after all, but then the alpha got up and the opportunity had passed.

“You call if you need anything, okay?” Dean said at the front door.

Cas nodded.

“I mean it. Anything at all. I don’t care if it’s the middle of the night, capiche?”

“Yes, I capiche.”

“Okay, so, see you tomorrow? Same time?”

Cas nodded again.

Dean took a step closer and for a moment, Cas thought he was going to kiss him, but then the alpha reached out and brushed against his scent gland one last time before turning around and walking to his car.

A scent mark. Cas’ omega wanted to jump for joy because alphas didn’t just scent mark any omegas. Of course, Dean had just done that for their pup, but even that thought couldn’t ruin his good mood.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A **huge** thanks to whoever liked this fic enough to send it in to the Destiel Fan Survey Favs Collection! The fact that this fic is actually someone’s favorite made me squee so hard, and if you want to tell me who you are, I’d be willing to (try to, no promises) write a prompt / request for you because I can never express how much this meant to me! (In the meantime, take this early update as a thank you.)


	8. Chapter 8

Cas woke up sweat-drenched and breathless, his heart racing.

He tried to control his breathing and shake off the lasting feelings from the nightmare in which Dean hadn’t been there when their pup had needed his scent.

While Cas would give anything for the little pup growing inside of him, Dean’s scent was something he couldn’t provide. Well, he _could_ since Dean had left him something to scent just in case, but the alpha’s old sweater wouldn’t carry his scent forever.

Still, for now, Cas had an emergency sweater to scent, so he went over to the dresser to get it and bring it to bed with him so that he could bury his nose in it and let it calm his omega down.

Even though it smelled so much like the alpha, it somehow made him miss Dean even more. This was ridiculous—Dean had only just been here hours ago. He would come by in less than 24 hours again.

But what might help Cas (and by that, he of course meant his pup) was hearing Dean’s voice. And the alpha _had_ said he could call night and day… Since that nightmare had left him shaking, this was clearly emergency enough to warrant a midnight call.

“Cas, hey.” Dean’s sleep-muffled voice greeted him. “Everything okay?”

“Hello, Dean.” Now that he had woken the alpha up in the middle of the night, he really didn’t know what to say. After all, he couldn’t very well tell him that he had just wanted to hear his voice after waking up from a nightmare. How pathetic was that?

“What’s up?” Dean asked again, a bit more alert now. “Need me to come over?”

“No, that would be ridiculous. I just… I…” He trailed off, starting to wish he hadn’t called at all.

For a moment, neither of them said anything. Cas squeezed the sweater tighter.

Then Dean said, out of nowhere, “Wanna hear a funny thing Sam did?”

And he proceeded to tell him all about what was going on in his brother’s life, and when he ran out things that were currently going on, they somehow ended up trading childhood memories.

Cas had long since forgotten about the nightmare and was smiling while listening to Dean’s voice and occasionally scenting his sweater.

⁂

Dean’s attempt to distract Cas had worked just fine. They had been talking about everything and anything for the past hour.

“You did _not_ sing your brother to sleep!” Cas said.

“Sure did. With mom not around and dad on one of his benders, who else was gonna do it?”

There was stunned silence on the other end of the line. Maybe he had revealed a little bit too much.

But then Cas simply challenged, “Prove it.”

“What, you want me to sing a lullaby?” He chuckled because obviously, that wasn’t what Cas had meant.

“Yes.”

Or maybe it was.

Never one to back down from a dare, Dean cleared his throat and began singing, “Hey Jude, don't make it bad…”

Mom used to sing it to him, which was why it only occurred to him halfway through the first verse that it wasn’t really your typical lullaby. Somehow, it felt more like he was serenading Cas. Maybe show him what a great alpha he would make for their pup.

Dean could totally see himself singing their pup to sleep. Only, he wouldn’t be around once it was born. Which was such a shame since he was a total pro at this, as evidenced by the soft snoring on the other end of the line when the song came to an end.

But Cas wanted to wean their pup off his scent. The message that the omega didn’t want him around long-term was pretty damn clear.

Dean would just have to make the most of the time when the unborn pup still needed Cas to scent him.

⁂

Over the next couple of weeks, Dean came by once a day for a prolonged scenting session. They never really kept to their ‘one hour a day’ plan, instead spending whole evenings together, which would make it all the more difficult to gradually accustom their pup to the fact that the alpha’s scent wouldn’t always be around.

During the day, Cas always told himself that he would cut down on the scenting time, but when he was back in the alpha’s arms, basking in his gentle affections, he couldn’t bring himself to care. So what if they spent a little more time together? They still had time to decrease their scentings later…

Tonight, Dean had invited him over, which was a first, but he assumed Dean didn’t want to always be the one to make the drive.

It turned out that the alpha had cooked for him, and so they enjoyed a nice meal together before the scenting even started.

Even though Cas offered to help clean the dishes, Dean just shooed him away to get comfortable on his couch while he was taking care of things.

It wasn’t that Cas had wanted to snoop—the book had just been right there (underneath a bunch of car magazines). ‘How to Take Care of Your Pregnant Mate.’

“It’s not like they have a book for taking care of omegas you knocked up at a fertility ranch,” Dean said, who had suddenly appeared next to him. “That would be quite the title, huh?”

Before Cas had gotten to know him, he might have been fooled by Dean’s smile and casual pose, but now, he could see the signs of embarrassment.

He quickly put the book back, a bit embarrassed himself that Dean had caught him going through his things.

“Uhm… So, what does the book say?” Cas asked. Maybe that’s why Dean had gone to all the trouble of cooking that delicious meal for him. All for their pup’s sake.

“There’s this chapter on belly rubs,” Dean said as he sat down right next to him, his thigh brushing against Cas’. “It’s supposed to be good for the pup.”

Cas had liked getting his belly rubbed when Dean had done it before at the cabin, so he shrugged, faux-casual, and said, “Well, if the book says we should…”

“Yeah?” Dean smiled at him and his hand found its way to his stomach, resting there over his shirt, still asking permission.

Cas shrugged again. “If _you_ don’t mind…”

The smile on Dean’s face became even brighter. “Okay, this position is a bit awkward. You should probably… lie down.”

“Yes, okay.”

Only the couch was too narrow and Cas felt like he would be falling right off.

After trying out different positions that were less than ideal because they didn’t give Dean the room to work with, they relocated to Dean’s bed where Cas wouldn’t need to worry about rolling right over the edge onto the floor.

He was a bit disappointed when Dean started off touching his belly _over_ his shirt, but it still felt good, so he just enjoyed the contact. The question remained: Why was Dean so cautious? It wasn’t like they hadn’t done a lot more. Dean had touched him in a lot more intimate places and he hadn’t shied away from touching his naked skin then.

It seemed like he had to take matters into his own hands. Wriggling around some, he managed to make his shirt ride up a bit.

Dean’s hand stilled when it came in contact with his naked belly, but then the alpha started moving it slowly again and this felt even better.

⁂

Yes! Dean had finally managed to work his hand underneath Cas’ shirt and since the omega didn’t object to the direct contact, he pushed it up a bit more to get the offending material out of the way.

He hadn’t thought he’d get lucky enough to get his hands on that belly again. These last few days, he’d had to fight his alpha instincts to keep himself from giving that omega a good belly rub. Now, he was finally allowed to.

Of course, he hadn’t mentioned the fact that according to the book, the positive effects from a belly rub for the pup started _from the sixth month of the pregnancy onwards._ This right now? Wasn’t for the pup at all, but for its omega daddy.

He should maybe feel guilty for tricking Cas into letting him do this, but the way the omega sighed happily and arched into his touch were clear signs of how much he enjoyed Dean’s hands on his pregnant belly.

“Can you get this off?” Dean asked, indicating the shirt.

Cas quickly pulled it over his head and lay back down.

Perfect. Now he had complete access. He made sure to use gentle, slow strokes and caresses as the book had suggested.

It seemed to be working. Cas had his eyes closed and bared his neck, his omega instincts no doubt telling him to submit to his alpha. This led to Dean nosing along his scent gland, initiating a round of scenting while still keeping his hand on Cas’ belly and occasionally stroking just to see the omega bite his lip and hear him moan ever so softly.

Yeah, the belly rub had been a complete success.

Dean should really read through the whole book. See if there were any other suggestions for what the alpha should do to make sure the pup and his omega were well taken care of.


	9. Chapter 9

Over the next few days, Dean kept suggesting new things he claimed to have read in his book.

For one, it supposedly talked about how pregnant omegas were supposed to stay active and take regular walks, which was why from then on, instead of just staying inside and scenting the whole time, they started their evenings off by taking a stroll through nature together.

Since the pup was in need of contact from the alpha, they usually walked hand in hand, which Cas had to admit felt rather nice.

Dean was really going out of his way to ensure the pup’s safety. He wasn’t even supposed to _have_ any responsibilities, but he took his self-imposed responsibilities very seriously anyway.

After that one midnight call, it became a tradition that at the end of their evenings together, he would sing to the pup. That was a bit strange since there wasn’t even a pup bump and the fetus surely wasn’t capable of hearing anything yet, but the alpha had a beautiful voice and Cas liked listening to it, so he just enjoyed Dean singing a different song to their pup each evening.

When Cas had admitted that he didn’t know any of those songs, Dean had looked at him like he was from Mars. The next time, he brought a mixtape with thirteen of his favorite Led Zeppelin songs. Apparently, it was a gift.

Once Dean had gone, Cas listened to all of them. He liked Dean’s renditions better, but he still loved the mixtape because Dean had made it for him—probably for when he wouldn’t be around anymore. That was very thoughtful of him, even though Cas didn’t want to think about that yet. Not when they were having so much fun together.

Soon, they didn’t just go for walks, but did other things, too. There was the time they went to a drive-in movie because Cas hadn’t understood some reference and Dean deemed it necessary to educate him about DeLoreans. According to Dean, he had to make sure Cas knew all of these things so that he could teach their pup about ‘the important things in life.’

That was why they didn’t stop with that one movie, but had to make time for movie night once a week. Cas wasn’t sure if pop culture really counted as an ‘important thing in life,’ but Dean was very enthusiastic about it, so he could sit through a movie with him every now and again. (Especially if Dean put an arm around his shoulder.)

Of course, there was the time they went for a midnight picnic under the stars. Cas didn’t quite know what lesson he was supposed to learn here, but the stars were very beautiful to look at. Maybe this was Dean’s way of trying to follow the advice that said to avoid stressful situations. Even though they had brought blankets, they somehow ended up sprawled on the hood of the Impala, talking about things that you only really talked about under the blanket of darkness.

Still, when they saw a shooting star, he kept his wish to himself. Not that he was superstitious, but if you wanted a wish to come true, you weren’t supposed to say it out loud, that’s just how it worked.

As always when things were going great for once, time just flew by, and suddenly, it was the day before his first ultrasound. He casually mentioned it to Dean during their daily scenting session. Not that he had any expectations whatsoever. He was absolutely ready to deal with everything all by—

“I’m gonna take you,” Dean replied, just as casually. “I have a bunch of questions I wanted to ask anyway. I mean, books are great and all, but I figure doctors can probably explain some things better.”

Cas resumed scenting the alpha just so he could hide his happy smile against Dean’s neck.

⁂

Seeing his pup for the first time, all snug inside Cas’ uterus, little heart beating away—Dean knew at that moment that he’d give anything for Cas to allow him to stick around. For any future appointments, for the birth, for after the birth… because there was no way he could go his whole life without ever holding his pup in his arms.

Signing those damn documents that said he’d walk away forever had clearly been a huge mistake. But he still had enough time left to convince the omega to let him be a part of his pup’s life, even though that hadn’t been what he had agreed to.

Squeezing Cas’ hand, he was still staring at the life they had created, nestled comfortably inside Cas’ belly where the omega was friggen _growing_ it, day by day.

In order to control his emotions and not come across as a total wuss, he focused on asking the doctor, a small, bespectacled beta with kind eyes, all of his questions.

He only realized that he might have been talking too much when the doctor asked Cas if there was anything _he_ wanted to know.

“I… I actually do have a question.” He shot a nervous look at Dean.

The doctor had picked up on how fidgety Cas was all of a sudden as well, and asked, “Do you want the father to wait outside?”

For a moment, it seemed like Cas was about to say yes. But always the polite omega, he shook his head. “No, he… he can stay. I was just wondering about… pregnancy heat.”

The doctor nodded. He probably got that question all the time, whereas it was something Dean hadn’t even thought about since he hadn’t gotten to that chapter yet. When exactly were omegas due for their pregnancy heat? Was that something that he should have read up on earlier? While his thoughts were racing, he tried to look nonchalant.

Luckily, neither the doc nor Cas were paying attention to him.

“Actually, sex during an omega’s pregnancy heat is not that different from normal sex during pregnancy. As long as you’re comfortable, there is…”

“Oh, no,” Cas interrupted him, a blush spreading quickly up his neck and across his cheeks. “We’re not… I meant… Is there anything I have to do or be aware of when I’m taking care of it on my own?”

“I’m sorry, I assumed…” The doctor glanced at Dean before turning back to Cas. “Going through pregnancy heat alone can be tough, but there are ways to make it easier. If possible, you should have something with the biological alpha’s scent nearby. There are some toys that have been manufactured with pregnant omegas in mind. And of course there’s always the option of calling an alpha service. The alphas are trained to take care of a pregnant omega in heat, too.”

 _Alpha_ service?! What kind of a doctor recommended an alpha service to a pregnant omega? Dean grit his teeth, but stayed silent.

As if he would let another alpha stick his cock into Cas while his pup was inside of him. Yeah, fat chance of that happening.

His good mood from when he had seen his pup and listened to its heartbeat had evaporated by the time they were in the car on their way back.

“So, when’s your pregnancy heat due?” Dean asked after they’d been driving in silence for a few minutes.

“Couple of weeks,” Cas replied meekly.

Dean hummed to acknowledge that piece of information.

More silence.

He had to know—he just had to, or else he’d go insane wondering about it once he was back home alone, so he asked, “You gonna call an alpha service?”

There was no immediate answer, so Dean looked over at Cas. The omega wasn’t meeting his eyes, though, and unfortunately, Dean had to look back at the road.

“Maybe,” Cas finally mumbled.

Unbelievable! He had _Dean’s_ pup inside of him and yet he seriously considered sleeping around with another alpha.

“That’s kinda slutty, don’t you think?” Okay, so maybe that had been a bit petty, but just the thought of some service alpha fucking Cas through his heat was enough for Dean’s alpha to go insane.

“Ex _cuse_ me?”

“I’m just saying, letting some random alpha mount you…”

“I fail to see how that’s any of your business,” Cas interrupted him with a dangerous edge to his voice.

That hit a bit too close to home. In the grand scheme of things, there was really nothing Dean could do if Cas decided to sleep with other alphas. It would be killing him, sure, but he couldn’t tell Cas what to do. It wasn’t like he was his alpha and they were in a monogamous relationship.

“Yeah, well, if that’s the kind of role model you want to be for your pup…”

There was a moment of dangerous silence.

Then Cas said, “Pull over.”

“What?”

“Pull over, Dean. Pull over right now!”

That was ridiculous. Just because of a stupid fight— “I’m not going to let you walk all the way home.”

He glanced over at Cas who looked unnaturally pale, and that’s when he realized why the omega had wanted Dean to pull over.

The car came to a screeching halt at the side of the road just in time for Cas to open the passenger side door before he threw up.

Great. Dean was supposed to make things _easier_ for Cas, not make him sick.

He turned around to reach for the water bottle on the back seat. Time to stop being a jerk and be helpful instead of upsetting the omega who was carrying his pup.


	10. Chapter 10

The drive home was tense to say the least. Cas didn’t talk to him, but was just staring out the window, and Dean didn’t really know what to say, either.

The last time he had tried to ask Cas not to call some sleazy alpha from an alpha service for his pregnancy heat hadn’t gone over too well. He doubted Cas would appreciate him bringing that topic up again when they’d just been fighting about it.

As soon as Dean had parked the car in front of Cas’ house, the omega got out with a terse, “Thank you for driving me.”

Dean quickly got out as well and followed Cas to the front door where the omega was fiddling with his keys, back turned to him.

“Look, Cas, I shouldn’t have…”

Turning around, Cas crossed his arms over his chest and raised his eyebrows expectantly.

Put on the spot like that, Dean didn’t know how to make this okay, so he finished, a bit lamely, “That comment was uncalled for. Sorry it made you puke.”

Cas rolled his eyes at that. “That had nothing to do with you being an idiot and everything with your subpar driving skills.”

“Ouch. Hitting me where it hurts,” Dean joked, but Cas’ expression remained unimpressed.

Neither of them said anything for a few long seconds.

“So. Are we gonna go in to scent?” Dean suggested when the silence dragged on for too long.

“I think I prefer scenting your sweater tonight. It probably won’t call me a slut.” With those words, Cas turned back around and finally got the door open.

Since he didn’t shut it in his face, but left it open, Dean took that as an invitation (or at least permission) to follow him inside.

“Okay, you’re pissed, I get it,” Dean said once inside, spreading his hands in a placating gesture.

“I don’t think you do.” Cas sighed before continuing, “I thought about how intense my heats usually are when I have to go through them alone, and I don’t want to go through that while pregnant, especially after what my doctor said about how tough a pregnancy heat can be. I waited for you to maybe say something, but you didn’t offer, so. I am perfectly within my rights to do whatever I want to make this easier on me without you making me feel bad about myself.”

At the end of his speech Cas seemed drained, but he still had Dean fixed with an intense stare, daring him to disagree.

Dean licked his lips. “Would you have _wanted_ me to offer?”

Cas blinked at him, obviously not having expected that question. After a moment of silence, he offered a tentative, “Maybe.”

Wow. Okay. That ‘maybe’ sounded like Cas’ shy version of ‘Yes.’ That was—

“Not so much now that I know how you see me,” Cas added, glare back in his eyes. “I’m not one of those omegas in porno movies who enjoy being called ‘slut’ and ‘knot whore.’”

“Obviously that’s not how I see you,” Dean protested.

“Why did you say it then?”

“I don’t know.” Since that obviously wasn’t good enough judging by the look Cas gave him, he tried, “It’s not just _you_ who’s pregnant.” When Cas’ eyebrows went up at that, he quickly amended, “I mean, yeah, it’s you who’s pregnant, but, I mean, there are instinct… things going on with me, too, and the thought of some other alpha touching your belly with my pup inside…” Dammit, he was not explaining this right. Cas wasn’t very helpful, just squinting at him with a slightly tilted head. “I might have gotten a bit territorial. Which, by the way, the book says is perfectly normal behavior for the pup’s alpha.”

His explanation did nothing to get rid of the confused frown on Cas’ face. “I don’t understand how that relates to you judging me for considering an alpha service.”

Did he really have to spell it out? Who was he kidding, this was _Cas_ , so yeah, spelling it out was probably necessary.

But with Cas standing right in front of him, close enough that he could scent him if he just leaned forward, admitting he was wrong didn’t seem quite as daunting. “I didn’t want you to call an alpha service for your pregnancy heat.” And then, because he had already revealed this much, “I wanted you to want _me_ to take care of it. As the pup’s alpha that’s kinda my job.”

“Oh.” Finally, the confused expression cleared, but Dean didn’t know if that was better or if he had just made a huge fool of himself. “Then you should have just said that.”

Sure, when Cas put it like _that_ …

Before he could say anything, however, Cas declared, “I’m tired. I don’t like conflict and fighting with you is exhausting.”

That was obviously his polite way of asking Dean to leave, so he quickly took a step back. “Yeah, of course, I’ll just…” He pointed over his shoulder towards the door. “See you tomorrow?”

He hoped they were still on for their scenting date then.

“What are you talking about? We still haven’t scented today.” Cas reached out to take his arm and pull him along to the couch.

“I thought you preferred the sweater?” Dean said, confused when Cas just latched on to his scent gland and then started scenting up and down his neck.

“I’m allowed to change my mind,” Cas mumbled into his neck.

Okay then. It wasn’t like Dean had any objections if it meant he got to hold and scent Cas in return.

⁂

They had made up after their fight a few days ago, so why was Dean fidgety tonight? And not just that, his scent was weirdly nervous, too, which in return meant Cas didn’t get his dose of calming alpha scent. He had to follow Dean’s neck whenever the alpha leaned back and then forward again, while crossing and uncrossing his legs.

When Dean changed positions yet again, Cas had had enough.

“Do you mind?!” he asked as he pushed Dean’s body against the back of the couch so that he would keep still and Cas could scent in peace.

No such luck—Dean’s scent only turned more nervous.

Cas let go of him so that he could look at him, trying to figure out what his problem was. “Do you not want to scent tonight?”

“Course I do.”

“Then why do you smell like you want to be anywhere but here?”

Dean sat back a bit, licked his lips, and said, “Okay.” He licked his lips again and then repeated, “Okay. I was thinking about what you said about… you know, just saying stuff, so, I guess here goes. I thought a few days away for your pregnancy heat would be nice. So, I looked around, and if you’re not still set on that whole alpha service idea, I could book a cottage for the week. I found a nice one mates recommend for spending their mating cycles, and I figured you paid last time, so it’s only fair if I got this one…”

What he had actually paid for was Dean knocking him up, but pointing out that technicality didn’t seem like the best idea. The last thing he wanted was for Dean to retract his offer.

So instead, he said, “That sounds like a good plan.”

And just like that, Dean’s scent lost its nervous edge and returned to normal, which meant that they could go back to doing what they were here for.

Dean’s nose bumped against the sensitive spot behind his ear in search for his scent gland, which sent every one of his nerve endings aflutter like usual.

While scenting the alpha, Cas’ thoughts drifted to the week they would spend together doing what mates did who were expecting their first pup.

His stomach was somersaulting, heart flip-flopping like crazy. He would get to touch Dean again. Well, of course they were touching all the time—their pup needed them to, after all, but… He would get to touch Dean _intimately_. In places they had been careful not to touch ever since their stay at the fertility ranch.

“You okay?” Dean asked and brought him out of his fantasies of a week in which he could pretend Dean was his mate.

“Why wouldn’t I be?”

“Dunno.” His shrug almost dislodged Cas’ nose from his scent gland. “Now _you_ kinda smell nervous.”

Yes, Dean was probably right about that—he _was_ nervous. Not in a bad way, though, but in a wonderful, excited, can’t-wait-for-it way.

So, Cas just shrugged, too, and used his new go-to excuse. “Has to be the pregnancy. Just keep scenting.”

And Dean did.


	11. Chapter 11

Driving up to the cottage left Cas with a sense of déjà vu. Only this time, he was in the passenger seat. This time, instead of meeting a stranger there, he knew the alpha he’d spend his heat with rather well. No need to be nervous about whether they would succeed in making a pup or whether the alpha would not find him attractive enough. (Although he did feel a bit self-conscious about the fact that he was starting to show.)

Just like last time, they had a couple of days before his heat would hit. Since they didn’t need that time to get to know each other, they could spend it on fun activities like cooking together, and laughing about stupid things from a ridiculous movie they were watching to Dean’s attempt at chasing a spider away.

“Don’t hurt him!” Cas finally said when Dean was trying to crawl under the bed in his hunt for the spider.

“I hope you’re talking to the spider,” Dean’s voice came from underneath the bed.

But he did manage to remove the spider without killing it, so Cas thanked him with a chaste kiss. Of course, he regretted it as soon as it was over and Dean was looking at him all wide-eyed, so he quickly mumbled, “Thanks,” and averted his eyes.

Even on vacation Cas needed fresh air, as Dean declared, so they went outside and started goofing around. It ended with Dean chasing him around a bit (undoubtedly holding out on him since he always let Cas get away at an almost leisurely pace). Cas couldn’t remember the last time he’d had this much fun.

At the end there, Dean did finally catch him, and promptly pulled him into his arms with a triumphant “Gotcha!”

His smile slowly faded from his face as they kept staring into each other’s eyes, and then he leaned forward to nudge his neck, prompting him to bare it. When Cas obediently tilted his head to the side, Dean immediately started scenting and even licking along his neck, soft nudges becoming more urgent.

Finally, Dean’s mouth traveled from his neck to his jaw and then he captured Cas’ lips with his own in a soft kiss, which was followed by another one, and before Cas knew what was happening, Dean was teasing his lips apart with his tongue.

They hadn’t kissed since the cabin and Cas wanted this, wanted this _so much_ —but he had also really been looking forward to their time together while he _wasn’t_ in heat, and if they kept this up, Dean would most likely send him into heat early again. So, he reluctantly pulled away.

“I’m not in heat yet,” he explained.

“Yeah, sure,” Dean immediately said. “Sorry, that was… stupid.”

“No…” Cas began, but Dean had already turned around and was on his way inside.

Something else they hadn’t done since the cabin was spend the night together. Cas had wanted to ask Dean a few times to stay over, but every time Dean said “I better get going,” or “Whoops, gettin’ late,” he lost his nerve.

This week, though, he got to fall asleep next to Dean and wake up next to him.

Of course, they did some scenting before bed and for once, Dean didn’t leave. For once, Cas got exactly what he wanted.

This had to be what having a mate would feel like. Cas laid his head on Dean’s chest, and listened to his heartbeat, surrounded by the scent of his alpha. In response, Dean put his arm around him and squeezed his shoulder.

Cas could stay in this bubble of make believe forever, imagining that Dean would stay with him and their pup even after all of this was over.

Dean was reading in ‘How to Take Care of Your Pregnant Mate,’ but he didn’t want to read it to Cas, which made him wonder what was in there.

“I think it’s great that you want to read up on that,” Cas said because he had gotten a glimpse of the chapter title (‘Pregnancy Heat’). “But maybe you should trust your instincts more.”

He didn’t want Dean to follow a ten-step plan of how to get an omega through his pregnancy heat. Of course, _he_ had been the one with the plan the last time around—but that had been different. Dean was supposed to have fun here, too. He had paid for all of this, after all.

“Yeah, well, my instincts told me to kiss you earlier, so… Guess I need a how-to guide after all.”

“I’m okay with kissing,” Cas said because he didn’t want Dean to think kissing was off the table. “Once I’m in heat.”

Dean put the book down and raised his eyebrows. “So, you got another list of dos and don’ts? ’Cause I was thinkin’… this time we don’t really have to focus on how to best knock you up.”

That was true. This time was just for them. The only goal was their pleasure. Well, and getting Cas through his heat, of course.

Soon, Dean would touch him again in all the ways Cas had been dreaming of ever since his last heat they had spent together.

⁂

After Dean’s failed attempt at initiating sexual intimacy outside of Cas’ heat, he was more confused than ever about the mixed signals the omega was sending him.

They had been playing around, Dean’s alpha delighting in pretend-chasing the omega around and then Cas had looked at him all… ready to be kissed. Almost as if he had been waiting for it. And for a second, it had been perfect, Cas’ lips against his, soft and pliant, tasting of _Cas_ in a way that made Dean want to hold him and never let go.

Only then, Cas had turned him down, reminding him of what this was about. They were only here for his heat, not for anything else. Certainly not because there were any kind of deeper feelings involved.

Dean could still pretend, though. Falling asleep with Cas cuddled up against him gave him almost everything he could wish for. And soon enough, he would get to sleep with him while he was in heat. It would be very easy to pretend then that it was more than it was.

You gotta play the hand you're dealt, though, Dean had learned that the hard way. This might be his last chance of getting to have Cas in that way, and he wouldn’t spend it wishing for something he couldn’t have.

⁂

They were in the middle of playing ‘Sorry’ when it happened.

As soon as the heat scent hit his nose, Dean swiped the board off the table and was on Cas. He was allowed to kiss now, and dammit, he’d make the most of it!

He ignored Cas’ indignant “It was your move!” in favor of shoving his tongue down his throat.

That shut him up and finally, he got with the program. They stumbled their way to the bed while Dean frenched Cas for all he was worth.

The first time was frantic and desperate. All the evenings they had spent scenting but he hadn’t been allowed to… do stuff to Cas caught up to him, so he just let his alpha take over and take what he needed. He might have gotten a bit rough with Cas there, but Cas didn’t seem to mind if the needy whines were anything to go by.

The chapter on pregnancy heat had stressed that the alpha should make the omega feel wanted and loved. That’s why, once his alpha’s urges were satisfied after the first round, Dean let some of his true feelings shine through, looking Cas deep in the eyes when he sank into him the next time.

Planting soft, affectionate kisses on his lips, and combing his hair back with his fingers, he rocked into him gently. While one hand was cradling the back of Cas’ head, he used the other one to fondle his belly protectively. The small bump was a reminder of the last time they had spent his heat together. Since Cas’ hard dick was lying right there against his stomach, Dean started caressing it too, just sensual, feather-light touches.

The way Cas moaned, “Dean!” was music to his ears, especially when his dick twitched in his hand, eager for more. But Dean was done with hard and fast—this was about tender lovemaking to show that omega how loved he was.

While still rocking into him, Dean embraced him and kissed him on the neck, on his mating gland, maybe a bit of a possessive display, but he was allowed. His cock was buried in the omega who was carrying his pup after all. If this wasn’t the time for possessive displays, he didn’t know what was.

He fucked him for a long time after that, slow and deep, until Cas was a whimpering mess, begging for release. Only then did Dean pull out and take Cas’ cock between his lips, slowly laving the head with his tongue. He had barely begun to suckle gently when Cas’ whole body seized up and he came with a strangled sound.

Dean was so close, all he had to do was touch his own cock and spray Cas with his come. Long stripes across his chest, his cute little ass, his round belly, his spent dick. Dean’s balls had so much to give that Cas was basically drenched in semen when he was done.

Time to give that omega a bath. If that meant he’d get his hands all over Cas’ smooth, slippery skin—well, it sounded like a win-win to him.


	12. Chapter 12

In hindsight, Cas should have been more careful. He was pregnant—his body was producing love hormones left and right whenever Dean cuddled and scented him, or bathed him, hands gliding over every inch of his body, or brought him to orgasm. And Dean seemed to have made it his mission to fuck as many orgasms out of him as possible during his pregnancy heat.

Cas spent most of the time with Dean’s dick in his ass while they were scenting and making out. Inevitably, Dean would hold him tight as he kissed him through another intense orgasm.

So yes, with his hormones all over the place, he should have seen it coming. The way kissing Dean never failed to make his insides tingle, the way he couldn’t look away when Dean was staring him in the eyes…

His omega had gone and fallen in love with this alpha, the father of his pup, who, according to their contract, was supposed to be nothing but the sperm donor.

No wonder. They had cuddled too much, scented too much, kissed too much—bonding hormones were no doubt having a field day with them.

“You’re so awesome,” Dean told him as he pulled out of him with a little plop and flopped down beside him for some additional cuddles.

Being praised like that did nothing to quell his omega’s infatuation.

So, Cas just kissed Dean to shut him up.

⁂

Transitioning back to the real world after this amazing week, during which Cas had been able to pretend that he meant as much to Dean as Dean did to him, wasn’t easy.

As soon as his pregnancy heat was over, Cas already missed Dean’s mouth on his.

Dean reached out to him a couple of times, but he suddenly seemed unsure about touching him, and he ended up patting his shoulder awkwardly.

On the drive home, they hardly talked, listening to music instead.

It was late when they arrived at Cas’ place and they had already had their scenting session for the day—for the whole week, really, since they’d done nothing _but_ scent (and fuck) the last few days. But Cas wasn’t quite ready to part with Dean just yet, so he invited him in. Unexpectedly, Dean accepted, even though he probably wanted to go home, too, unpack and take a shower.

Yet, here he was, climbing in bed next to Cas as if they were still on heat vacation.

A whole week of getting your ass fucked by an alpha really took it out of you, so once in scenting position, Cas snuggled right back up against Dean because his omega was used to it by now. It was all instincts, the way he sought out Dean’s embrace, the way Dean put his arms around him immediately and without question.

They just lay like that for a while, the silence comfortable in a way that was only possible with someone you trusted and knew well.

Finally, Dean cleared his throat. Here came his ‘It’s getting late’ line. Cas wished he would have stuck around for a while longer, but maybe that had been too much to hope for.

“You know,” Dean began, “kissing does provide amazing benefits for a pregnant omega and his pup.”

That—didn’t sound like a ‘See you later, gotta go.’ While Cas was stumped that this didn’t turn out the way he had expected, Dean went on, “Lowers stress levels, boosts your immune system, keeps you in a good mood…”

What harm could it do to add some soft kisses to their scenting sessions? His omega’s heart would get broken anyway once Dean would leave. He might as well get what he wanted in the meantime.

Dean got halfway through “Reduces cramps” before Cas cut him off with a kiss.

⁂

There was no way Dean could go back from having all of Cas to only being allowed to scent him. Luckily, Cas didn’t have any objections to extending their scenting dates and adding a little smooching to the mix. That, at least, seemed to placate his alpha, who really wanted to show that omega how much affection he harbored for him.

_Make the omega feel wanted and loved._

That was probably good advice for an expecting omega even when he _wasn’t_ in heat.

A mating cycle always left you a bit drained, so it was just natural that Cas was exhausted after his pregnancy heat, and he soon drifted off.

Dean should drive home and catch some z’s himself. Getting an omega through his pregnancy heat was no less tiring. Awesome—sure, but he had come so many times that he definitely had to recharge, too.

With Cas pressed against him, trying to get free of this omega turned octopus was more of a challenge than anticipated, though.

Well then. He’d just rest his eyes for a second. Or two…

The next thing he knew, he woke up to a horny omega sitting on him, kissing him frantically, and… well, what was an alpha to do? Had to be the last remnants of his pregnancy heat, so it was kind of Dean’s job to take care of that.

During the next days and weeks, it became clear that spending Cas’ pregnancy heat together had changed their relationship. Since they had kissed and spent the night together during the omega’s pregnancy heat, there was really no reason to stop now. So, from then on, Dean would spend the night whenever he didn’t have to get up too early.

He also made sure to take Cas on fun dates as often as possible, and it was on one of those dates when it hit him.

They were playing mini-golf and Cas was having trouble getting the ball into the hole, so Dean, sensing a chance to be close to him, stepped up behind him and wrapped his arms around him to demonstrate how to swing the club by correcting his posture and guiding the movement.

The wind carried Cas’ familiar scent to him and it smelled so much like _mate_ that it took his breath away. This was the scent he wanted to smell for the rest of his life.

Yes, he wanted to be close to his pup, and yes, he wouldn’t mind fucking Cas from time to time. But it was more than that. So much more.

The reason it was so easy to follow all of the advice given in the book was simple, yet it had taken him until now to figure it out. He wanted this family like he had never wanted anything before. He wanted Cas as his _mate_.

‘How to Take Care of Your Pregnant Mate’—the title of the book was on to something there. Somewhere along the way, his alpha had started to see Cas as his potential mate.

He released Cas and quickly stepped back.

⁂

Cas had decided to enjoy the feeling of being in love. The jittery feeling in his belly whenever Dean was smiling at him actually felt rather nice. So did the flutter of electricity running through his body at every touch.

He was so used to his stomach doing flip-flops when he was cuddling with Dean that he almost didn’t recognize the first time his pup was kicking.

It was Dean who got freaked out. He was wrapped around Cas, one hand softly caressing the pup bump as so often, and the next second, he snatched his hand away.

“What the hell?!”

Then it happened again, a soft flutter against his belly as if he was being tickled from the inside.

That wasn’t just his omega delighting in some cuddle time with his alpha. That was their pup moving around inside of him! Protective instincts immediately flooded through him and Cas put his hand on his belly. The next moment, he could feel it from both the inside and the outside.

Dean had to have realized what was going on, too, and his hand cautiously joined Cas’. There, another movement.

“Wow!” Dean breathed.

He looked so happy, just about as happy as Cas was feeling, and then they were kissing, tongues stroking over one another leisurely. There was so much love and affection in the kiss that Cas thought maybe… Maybe.

That high lasted a couple of days, but of course, it had to come to an end.

Cas was tidying up when he found it—Dean had gotten into the habit of leaving more and more things at his place. That was okay; Cas had some things lying around at Dean’s place, too.

He shouldn’t have been so curious. If he hadn’t been so curious, he would still have the fantasy that his feelings were reciprocated.

But he _had_ been curious, he had opened the stupid book and he had eventually found out what all the fussing and ‘You’re awesome’s had been about. Dean wasn’t an alpha in love, he was simply doing what his manual had told him.

_Make the omega feel wanted and loved._

He sure had done a great job pretending.


	13. Chapter 13

Okay, so, Dean wasn’t great at relationships. His track record was… well, it wasn’t good, let’s just leave it at that. On top of that, after his own childhood experiences, he had never thought he wanted pups of his own and mess up their lives.

Yet, here he was, having fallen for the omega he’d knocked up at a fertility ranch, ready to start a family, and the weirdest thing was—he wasn’t scared. He was excited. Maybe a bit nervous, but mostly about telling Cas that he wanted them to stay together, be a family together, maybe get mated some day…

Chances were, Cas felt something for him too, right? Dean knew for a fact that the omega loved his scent, that couldn’t just be the pup. The way Cas always attacked his scent gland every chance he got… Yes, he was definitely into his scent.

Plus, they were sexually compatible. And then there was the way Cas kept looking at him without blinking as if he could stare right into his soul. Might not be _love_ exactly, but some form of affection, maybe.

So yeah, Cas would totally say that they could give this thing a shot. Dean would make him fall in love with him yet if only they could extend their timeline. Up until now, they’d been operating under the assumption that this was only temporary, the pup’s birth some kind of distant deadline. It was time to get rid of that deadline looming on the horizon.

Only when Dean arrived at Cas’ place that day, the omega wasn’t in the best mood, so all the courage Dean had gathered on his way here kind of left him.

“You okay?” he asked because something about Cas’ scent was off.

They were just standing in the hallway, and Cas didn’t make a move to lead them to the living room or the bedroom. Something was up, and Dean’s stomach was tying itself into knots.

“I’m fine, I just…” Cas took a deep breath. “I think it’s time for us to go our separate ways.”

Dean felt as if the ground had been pulled from under his feet. All the hope he’d felt on his way here… gone in an instant. He’d imagined Cas’ shy smile as he would say that yes, he would like Dean to stick around. This ‘time to go their separate ways’ bullshit? Wasn’t what he had expected _at all_.

“What?” was all he got out around a dry throat.

Cas wasn’t even looking him in the eyes. His voice was void of emotion as he explained, “We’ve weaned the pup off…”

“We haven’t done _shit_!” Dean interrupted him, anger getting the better of him. “If anything, we’ve weaned it _on_.” Seriously, they hadn’t done _less_ scenting, they’d done _more_. How was that ‘weaning the pup off’?!

“All the more reason to stop,” Cas said, and he was finally looking at Dean, but somehow, that wasn’t an improvement. There was an almost detached look on his face. He seemed dead set on cutting all ties, even though he hadn’t even brought it up in forever. This came out of nowhere.

“So what, you just suddenly realized you don’t want me around anymore? ’Cause I gotta tell you, you didn’t seem to have a problem yesterday when you were all over me during scenting time.”

Scenting time had long since become cuddling time, interspersed with some light petting (and maybe a bit of heavy petting). In any case, Cas had been on board and had even initiated some things between them. Those signals he’d been sending Dean were part of why he’d decided to ask Cas for something more permanent to begin with.

Cas didn’t say anything for a few long seconds. When he spoke again, he was just as calm as before. “Dean—this has always been the plan.”

As if it were that easy. As if _Dean_ were the unreasonable one. As if Cas didn’t even _care_ that they had started building something good here.

Cas and his stupid plans. Newsflash, Cas—plans could change! But no, not for Cas, it seemed. Dean didn’t fit into his ‘plan’ for his perfect life.

“Yeah, whatever,” Dean said and turned around to leave. He certainly wouldn’t be begging. If Cas had decided he didn’t like him anymore, Dean couldn’t care less. “It’s been real,” he called over his shoulder, and he hoped he sounded as calm as Cas had.

He also hoped his ‘don’t give a shit’ tone of voice bugged Cas at least a little bit, too.

He ignored Cas calling “Dean!” after him because to hell with him! If Cas was getting his freak on by trampling all over his feelings, he wouldn’t give him the satisfaction of seeing Dean’s eyes fill with tears of anger. Not that he let a single tear drop, but still…

⁂

 _“Why are you calling from an unknown number?”_ Sam asked when Dean finally decided to call him a couple of days later.

He might be a tiny bit drunk. For the third night in a row. Which might not be the most healthy way of dealing with shit, but hey. This was his life.

“Got a new cell phone,” Dean said and took another swig of his whiskey, straight from the bottle because who cared anymore anyway?

 _“Didn’t you_ just _get a new one?”_

Oh yeah. That one had been Cas’ fault, too. Damn, but that omega was driving up his expenses for electronic devices.

“What’s with the third degree?” Dean grumbled, but he explained nevertheless, “I left my cell at Cas’ place and had to buy a new one. End of story.”

He had actually left a lot of his stuff at Cas’. It sucked having to replace it all.

_“You—what?! Why would you have to get a new one because of that? Can’t you just go get it from Cas?”_

“Nope. He threw me out.”

It had taken him a couple of days to finally be able to say it out loud, but now he was proud that he had managed to get that out without feeling utterly despaired. Just the right amount of alcohol in his blood was definitely helping.

He told Sam about Cas’ crazy behavior, but his tipsy mind made his mouth stumble over a few words, so then he had to ignore Sam chewing him out for drinking too much ( _he_ was the big brother here—if anyone had the right to chew anyone out, it was supposed to work the other way around).

“No, you know what? It’s good,” Dean concluded. “’Cause now I know what I want, so I can go find an omega to fall in love with and start a family.”

His logic was spot on. Man, but this whiskey was making him think straight. Worth every penny. Unfortunately, the bottle was empty. Damn, now he’d have to search for another one.

 _“Yeah, I don’t think that’s how it works,”_ Sam had to dump all over his plan. (Cas liked plans. He would be so proud of Dean.)

“What are you talking about? That’s totally how it works!”

Sam sighed. _“Sleep it off and call me again when you’re sober,”_ he said.

Once they had hung up, Dean really wanted to call Cas to tell him how great he was doing without him. But he didn’t have his number because it was in his old cell, which was at Cas’ place.

Although probably not anymore. Cas had probably thrown all of his stuff out. Because he never wanted to see or talk to Dean again. Which, you know, not that Dean cared or anything.

The sound of the doorbell ringing shook him out of his thoughts.

Who would come by unannounced like this at such a late hour?! Okay, it wasn’t _that_ late, but also no time for a social call. His friends knew better than that.

Probably Sammy, ready to ream him out again for irresponsible behavior. Wait—hadn’t they just talked on the phone?

When he opened the door, he blinked twice, and then a third time to make sure that the alcohol wasn’t making him see things.

If Cas had called ahead, he would have made sure to tidy up some of the empty bottles and pizza boxes. At least it would have given him the chance to shave and take a shower… But of course, Cas _couldn’t_ call because of the whole cell phone thing.

At that moment, he hated that Cas looked great as always. Of course, Dean had to look like some kind of loser who was drinking himself to sleep over his lost love.

So much for his fantasy of telling Cas how great things were going for him…


	14. Chapter 14

So, here Cas was. The person Dean needed the most and wanted to see the least. Or _talk to_ the least. He definitely wanted to _see_ him. Although a kiss would probably be inappropriate—seeing as Cas had dumped his ass and all.

Maybe a hug for old times’ sake…

“You forgot a few things at my place,” Cas said and held out a bag. Dean blinked at it, and his hand reached out to take it on autopilot. “I thought maybe you’d come back for them,” Cas continued. “Then I found your cell phone and I know you need at least _that_ , so…”

Ah, he had come by to kick Dean while he was down. That made sense with how Dean’s life was going.

“Can I come in?”

Dean looked over his shoulder at the mess, and shook his head. “No.”

Cas tilted his head to the side and squinted at him all intensely with that weird trying-to-figure-him-out look.

“Why are you sad?” he finally asked.

“I’m not sad. _You_ ’re sad.”

Great comeback! Dean was on top of his game.

“Are you _drunk_?”

He was all out of witty comebacks for that one, so Dean just sighed and opened the door a bit wider so that Cas could slip in. If he just turned him away, he’d probably end up drinking another bottle of whatever alcoholic beverage he could find. He carelessly put the bag on the floor—it wasn’t like he needed his old cell anymore anyway, and waited for Cas to say whatever else he needed to say.

But Cas didn’t say anything else. Instead, he was taking in the mess all wide-eyed. He probably didn’t approve either, just like Sam. Well, fuck him. He didn’t get to break Dean’s heart and then judge him for how he chose to get over him.

“Your stuff is probably… somewhere around,” Dean said, motioning towards the bedroom because he might have stashed some things in there to make it smell more like Cas.

Cas didn’t start searching for his things, though. He was back to staring at Dean, and when he had finally figured it out, he said, half question, but equal part statement, “You really miss him.”

For some reason, Dean’s inebriated brain found it hilarious that Cas was referring to himself in the third person, and he laughed so that he wouldn’t start crying instead.

“I… I didn’t think it would affect you this much,” Cas said once Dean had managed to get his laughter under control. “You can touch if you want.”

Wow, touching an omega who didn’t really _want_ to be touched by him sounded like every alpha’s dream…

“Don’t do me any favors,” Dean replied, keeping his distance, even though his instincts were yelling at him to scent this omega. He hadn’t scented him in _days_.

When Dean didn’t make a move, Cas took a couple of steps forward, closing the space between them. Reaching out, he took Dean’s hand and guided it to his stomach.

Even though he knew he should put a stop to this, Dean was too weak. He curled his hand around Cas’ pup bump and buried his nose in his neck.

Their pup wasn’t the only one who had gotten used to their regular scentings. Dean had totally scent bonded with Cas, too, and his alpha had missed this so bad that Dean just wanted to keep standing here, taking Cas’ scent in forever.

When Cas’ nose nudged against his scent gland, Dean abruptly returned to reality and he quickly took a step back. He already hated himself for the moment of weakness because boy was he going to be fucking _destroyed_ when Cas would inevitably leave him again.

“Cas—what are you doing here, man?” Dean asked. After all, Cas had done what he had come here for. He’d returned Dean’s stuff, and he wasn’t making a move to get his own. At least the alcohol was making it easier to say what he might have kept bottled up inside otherwise. “You can’t keep jerking me around like this.”

There was that wide-eyed look again that probably meant Cas hadn’t even been aware of the fact that he was playing with Dean’s feelings.

“ _Me_?!” Cas asked. “I’m not the one who pretended.”

Pretended _what_? If he had known he’d be confronted with Cas and his confusing ramblings, he might have cut back on the whiskey. Maybe then his words would make sense.

As it was, all he could do was point out the facts, “You tell me to get lost and then you show up here out of nowhere…”

“I brought back your cell phone.”

“Yeah, well, mission accomplished. Thanks.” The ‘what are you _still_ doing here?’ was implied.

Cas looked away for a moment. When his eyes returned to Dean’s, he seemed unsure of himself, out of his depth.

Great. That made two of them.

“We missed you,” Cas finally said, mercilessly giving Dean _hope_ again of all things. “I thought you might want to know it’s a boy.”

All that did was make Dean’s heart lurch.

A boy.

All the things he would love to teach his son… Cas certainly had the geek part covered, but who would teach him about cars? About being outdoorsy? And here Cas was, just dangling the possibilities in front of him, ready to take them all away in a heartbeat.

“Not really,” Dean lied.

Cas lowered his eyes at that, which made Dean feel satisfied for all of two seconds before he regretted making his omega sad.

“Yeah, I… yeah, of course I’d want to know,” Dean admitted. “A boy, huh? That’s awesome!”

Seeing a tentative smile return to Cas’ face was totally worth swallowing his pride.

“I made a list with items I’ll need for him,” Cas said, which in return made Dean smile. A list. Of course. “And I want to go shopping next weekend.” After a moment of silence, he added, “Do you want to come?”

“Need someone to carry the stuff, huh?” Dean asked, but he was just teasing. Cas could use him for his alpha strength all he wanted. It actually made his alpha kind of proud, knowing that he was needed.

“I meant as a friend,” Cas said softly. 

Friend… That might be hard to pull off with Cas when Dean ached for so much more. But it was still better than no Cas in his life at all.

So, Dean nodded, and repeated, “Friends.”

⁂

Obviously, trying to keep Dean away from his pup had been wrong of Cas. At the time, all he had been able to think about was cutting all ties before he’d get hurt even worse. It had been selfish. Dean really loved his pup, that much was evident, so Cas shouldn’t make the alpha miserable by taking Jack away from him.

Plus, Cas had quickly realized that he couldn’t just cut Dean out of his life. A couple of days of no contact had been awful. He hadn’t been able to think of anything but Dean’s stiff shoulders and straight back as he had walked away from him, saying his last goodbye.

Yes, he had fallen for Dean, and being alone with his feelings of love hurt, but if nothing else, they had become friends as well. That’s how Dean saw him, and that should be enough for Cas, too.

After their decision to stay friends, not everything went back to normal. They kept their kissing to a minimum because friends didn’t kiss a lot, and they didn’t do sexual stuff to each other because normal friends didn’t do that either. Unless they were ‘fuck buddies,’ as Dean pointed out, but Cas had trouble keeping his feelings in check as it was, so (re)introducing that element to their friendship would only serve to confuse his omega.

Other things did go back to normal, though. Scenting was allowed, and of course, they hung out a lot, as friends do.

As promised, Dean accompanied him on his shopping tour, and even helped assemble some of the furniture. (Well, all of it. Cas had no idea how any of it worked. He mostly just handed Dean his tools and kept out of the way.)

When the prenatal classes started, Dean went with him because… well, why wouldn’t he.

It got a bit awkward because everyone assumed he was the pup’s alpha—which he was, but they also assumed they were together, which… yeah, Cas wished.

Some of the exercises made Cas’ stupid lovesick omega yearn for things he couldn’t have. Like when the alpha was supposed to embrace their omega from behind. Dean was always up for anything, never complaining, and of course, he had to be all supportive and gentle.

“And alphas?” the teacher said at the end of the class. “Don’t forget to make your omega feel loved.”

Cas tensed up at hearing that particular piece of advice.

When Dean tried to put his hand on his waist to guide him, Cas twisted away from him.

“I think you have that part down already,” he couldn’t help but point out.


	15. Chapter 15

Accompanying Cas to the prenatal class was a lot of fun—mainly because it gave him a good excuse to touch the omega.

When the teacher told them to make their omegas feel loved at the end of the class, Dean didn’t think anything of it.

Until Cas shied away from his touch, that was.

_I think you have that part down already._

Of course, Cas knew about his feelings. Dean hadn’t exactly been subtle. But it wasn’t like Dean _chose_ to be in love with him. He just _was_. No need for Cas to get all mad at him, just because Dean was bad at hiding how much the omega meant to him.

He managed to hold his tongue throughout the drive home since he really didn’t want to get into another argument and have Cas break up with him _again_. Once was plenty enough, thank you very much.

He even managed to ignore his injured alpha pride during their candlelight dinner and movie night with lots of cuddles.

In the end, his stubborn alpha won the internal fight, though, and once they were lying in bed (they were having one of their platonic sleepovers), he held himself back from kissing Cas goodnight.

Instead, he said, maybe a bit tersely, “I’m sorry to inconvenience you.”

Okay, that might be a complete non sequitur from Cas’ point of view, so when the omega just squinted at him, he explained, “If you don’t like me showing affection, you could have said something sooner.” After a moment of silence, he added, “Guess that means no more kisses, huh?”

Damn, he’d enjoyed sneaking a kiss from time to time. It had seemed like Cas might have enjoyed it, too. Apparently not. He’d definitely miss the goodnight kisses. (What was a little bit of Frenching between friends?)

Cas still wasn’t saying anything, which meant that it was up to Dean to fumble his way through expressing… words and… feelings and… stuff on his own, which he was completely useless at. But for Cas, he’d give it a shot.

Taking a deep breath, he plowed on, “Look, I’ll try, but… it’s not like I can just turn it off, okay?”

There. That hadn’t been _completely_ horrifying to articulate. Sam would be so proud of him.

Cas finally broke his silence, but all he said was, “Why not?”

“Why…?” Dean repeated.

Wow. That was kind of callous. It wasn’t like people could make themselves fall _out_ of love. (Wouldn’t that be neat, though?)

“Jeez, I don’t know,” Dean said. “Maybe because there’s no switch I can flick to control what I feel?!”

“This isn’t about your feelings for our pup. I am well aware of your love for him, and you should feel free to show that love any way you wish.”

“Uhm… okay?”

Why were they suddenly talking about Jack?

“I won’t take him away from you if that’s what you’re afraid of. But you have to stop playing with me.”

Playing…? “Are we talking sex stuff?”

They had stopped having sex after deciding to stay friends, and had only exchanged a blowjob here or there. And yeah, maybe Dean had used the opportunity to play with Cas a little bit, edging the omega and making sure he got an awesome orgasm out of it.

“What? No! We’re not talking about ‘sex stuff.’”

“Okay, then you officially lost me.”

“I’m talking about your courting behavior!” Cas pointedly looked at where Dean’s hand had snuck around his waist all on its own. “Taking me on romantic dates, telling me I’m ‘awesome’…”

Oh. Well, it was very hard to turn that off, too. His alpha instincts were difficult to suppress. Of course, an alpha in love would try some courting techniques on the omega of his affection.

“How does that even affect you?” Dean asked, pulling his hand back from where it had been fondling Cas. It wouldn’t hurt him to give his alpha a chance here.

“It ‘affects’ me because it makes me feel loved.”

Multiple air quotes in the last few minutes alone? Cas really had to be quite agitated.

“Wow, must be hard. What kind of a heartless alpha am I, making you feel _loved_?” Seriously, other omegas might appreciate that…

“Actually, it _is_ a little heartless, showing me everything I want and can’t have.”

What the hell was he on about? Before Dean could ask, Cas went on, “I hate that I need you like that. And you following the advice from that stupid book is not helping. It’s called ‘How to Take Care of Your Pregnant _Mate_.’ It’s addressed to alphas who _love_ their _mates_. I’m not your mate, so pretending because some book tells you it’s the right thing to do only hurts my omega. Hurts _me_.”

That… was a lot of information to take in all at once. Hearing that Cas needed him was nice, but…

“Hold up! You think I’m courting you because of what some _book_ says?!”

“You treat that book like it’s your bible,” Cas deadpanned.

“Only because it gave me some really good pointers on how to make you feel good.” Trying to make sense of everything Cas had just revealed, he added, “Hang on. So when you say you need me ‘like that’—do you mean like _this_?”

He wormed his hands back around Cas’ midsection and started nosing along his neck.

Cas squirmed around some, but eventually bared his throat, and Dean hid his smile by kissing the omega’s neck, rewarding him for his submission. Maybe Cas needed him the same way Dean needed Cas, after all…

“I’m not pretending,” Dean whispered into his ear before nibbling along his neck some more. “Are you?”

“Why would I… No… I…”

Seemed like he had Cas all distracted. No wonder—he knew _exactly_ where to nibble and lick to make the omega incoherent.

Reluctantly, he stopped because they still had some things to clear up.

One last kiss to Cas’ scent gland and he leaned back a bit so that he could say, “So, just to clarify, you wouldn’t mind getting courted some more? You know, by an alpha who is just a little bit crazy about you?”

Cas smiled and raised an eyebrow. “A little bit?”

“Okay, a lot. You got me there. An alpha who is crazy in love with you, you happy now?”

Cas’ smile grew even wider. “Very.”

There was a lot Dean would be willing to do to see Cas smile like that more often. On top of that, the scent of happy pregnant omega was overwhelming.

“But Dean, we’ve been going out for months, we’ve been _sleeping_ together for a while now, we’re having a _pup_ together… I think we’re past the courting stage.”

“Fair enough,” Dean conceded. “So, does that mean we’re officially a… thing?”

He held his breath until Cas nodded, and then he kissed the omega just because.

As much as he wanted to get frisky with Cas to celebrate their new relationship, there was still something he needed to address.

“If we do this—it’s for the long haul. You can’t tell me to leave again. ’Cause you’re my family—the two of you.” He stroked Cas’ pregnant belly for emphasis. “And I can’t lose my family again.”

It would destroy him. It almost had.

Cas looked deep into his eyes and said, “I’m sorry I told you to leave before. That was really dumb. I just didn’t want to get hurt.” After a beat of silence, he added, “I won’t ever tell you to leave again, but you’re not allowed to get fed up with us and leave, either.”

Dean didn’t know if he should laugh or cry. As if there was a chance in hell he would ever voluntarily leave his family.

“Deal,” he said.

They were quite the pair—plenty of abandonment issues to go around between the two of them. But together, they’d work through it. They just had to show each other that they’d stick around.

And maybe a mating bite would show Cas just how serious he was about them. He wouldn’t suggest it just yet—they had only just gotten together officially, after all—but it was definitely something he’d bring up eventually. When the time was right and he could be sure of Cas’ response.

For now, ‘love you’s mumbled into each other’s skin were enough of a reassurance. And every kiss a silent promise. _Forever_.

**Author's Note:**

> I can't believe another one is finished. As always, I'm a bit sad to bring a multichapter fic to an end. But while the main storyline is finished, I am planning a timestamp, so knowing that it's not the _end_ end is helping because I know I'll come back to this verse. I have an idea for the first timestamp, but I'm always happy to hear what else _you_ would like to read about.
> 
> As always, if you enjoyed it, I’d love to hear from you in the comment section. ❤️
> 
> If you want to support me, you can reblog the tumblr post **[here](https://destielshipper4cas.tumblr.com/post/644125940574732288/rating-explicit-tags-strangers-to-lovers)**.


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